Metal Militia
by LazyNinja
Summary: Prequel to HMR \m/ Itachi Uchiha, a boy with a mission: become the greatest rock star in the world. His weapon: a Gibson Les Paul. Of course, becoming a rock star doesn't work on your own. "A new dawn in our lives. We are Akatsuki, the new dawn in Metal."
1. Chapter 1: Ten Years Today

**A/N Sup? This is a standalone prequel to my other multichaptered story, 'Heavy Metal Romance' (or just HMR in short). I got bored of doing nothing, and no other stories really came to me except doing a prequel (I **_**did**_** get the first chapter done on a story ****no tears left to cry**** brought me to, but I'm not entirely happy with it, so yeah). Anyway, let's do this the usual way. **

**Songs in order:**

**Jump - Van Halen**

**Paradise City - Guns N' Roses**

**Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple**

**Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N' Roses**

**It's a Long Way to the Top - AC/DC**

**I still don't own anything (sadly), because I'm still a mere mortal student who barely has money to pay for the train every day. Sigh.**

**-----**

Everything looked ordinary. It was an ordinary day, with ordinary weather, ordinary birds in the sky, and an ordinary boy woke up to an ordinary alarm clock, in an ordinary room, on the top floor of an ordinary house. Only to this boy, this day wasn't just an ordinary day at all. Today was the day he turned ten years old.

This day was a special day like no others.

He jumped out of bed, took a quick shower and rushed into some clothes scattered all over the floor. He couldn't help but grin like an idiot; he was just too damn anxious about his birthday presents. As soon as he got downstairs, he rushed to the living room to turn on the radio. Since it was his birthday, he was in control of the remotes today, and thus the radio went to Paradise Classic Rock 93,4 with the volume higher than it should be at 7 AM.

It did cause his little 5-year-old brother to come running downstairs, glomping him while singing along to Van Halen's 'Jump'. A few minutes later, his parents turned up too; more asleep than wake, but at least they were there. That meant it was presents time. After the usual 'happy-birthday-honey'-stuff, His father returned from the garage with a _huge_ box smirking.

"Itachi, You gotta thank your mom for this one. I wanted to get you something more to my nostalgia, but she's rather...convincing when it comes to you kids. Anyway, you _better _learn how to play this thing. I know drums are cooler, but...Never mind. Happy birthday, son."

Itachi smirked and his little brother was tugging at the gift wrapping. Itachi smiled. "Nice, Sasuke. I'm gonna need your help with this one."

Together, the two brothers un-wrapped the box and Itachi opened it. It contained a brand new shiny black guitar case, with a tag on it. It read 'Happy Birthday Itachi Uchiha, from Yamato. Rock on.' Itachi smirked and crush-hugged his mom and dad. "Thanks. You couldn't have gotten me anything better."

Itachi's father yawned and said "I wanted to get you a drum kit, but your mother insisted on training her kids on guitar. I had no say in it whatsoever. Mikoto, where's my coffee?"

Mikoto shot him a playful glare, quickly kissed him on the lips (ew, parent-fluff...) and got up to get her husband and kids breakfast. She smiled to herself as little Sasuke turned up the radio when 'Paradise City' by Guns N' Roses got on. Meanwile, Itachi took his brand new guitar out of the case and picked it up. He held a chord and imagined to be the world's most famous rock star while strumming.

"It's the best of the best," Mikoto said upon returning. "We wanted top quality, so we went to Yamato's. Everyone knows he makes the best guitars. That one you're holding now? A Gibson Les Paul with 24 fret rosewood fretboard and Humbucker pickups. Your lessons start tonight."

Itachi cheered and ran upstairs to get dressed properly for school while his father attempted to turn down the volume of the radio. He almost had the remote, when Sasuke snatched it away from the table and ran around laughing hysterically while his father proceeded to chase him. Mikoto came out of the kitchen again, laughing too, when the clock caught her eye.

7:39 AM.

"Fugaku, leave Sasuke alone and hurry up. You're already late. Sasuke, put that back where you got it. It's Itachi's today. Pip pip, move!"

She shooed the two males upstairs (Fugaku carrying Sasuke and tossing him on his bed, causing the five-year-old to laugh hysterically again), and sat down sighing. So much for the quiet morning of Itachi's birthday.

-----

"Hey, 'Tachi! 'Tachi! Play something for me!" Sasuke shouted while bouncing up and down on Itachi's bed. Itachi poked his little brother to shut him up and picked up his guitar. He just learned this today, but Sasuke would easily recognize it.

"Alright, listen to this and take a guess what song it is" Itachi said smirking. He proceeded to play the infamous intro riff of 'Smoke On the Water' by Deep Purple, which caused little Sasuke to cheer loudly and laugh when the older sibling screwed up.

Sasuke laughed and kept yelling "Brother can't play Deep Purple" until Itachi figured it out and played it right. When he was done, Sasuke cheered and clapped enthousiatically (hyperactively) when Itachi raised the 'metal horns' sign with his hands, a confident smirk on his face.

Itachi was playing for a month now, and he was doing rather well; Fugaku used to say how he had his mother's genes when he heard his first-born play. He himself sometimes picked up the drum sticks once more to join his wife and son jamming. Sasuke was their greatest and only fan. Today Mikoto was teaching him how to play 'Sweet Child O' Mine' by her all time favorite band Guns N' Roses. The guitar parts in the original were written by the guitar hero called Slash, one of Itachi's favorite guitarists together with Eddie Van Halen.

One day, the succesful lawyer and old highschool friend of Itachi's dad, Hiashi Hyuuga, came over to discuss some legal case with Fugaku when he heard Itachi and Mikoto play. He turned to a smirking Fugaku.

"Isn't that AC/DC's 'It's a Long Way to the Top'? Who's playing?"

Fugaku's smirk broadened. "That's my wife and oldest son. She's still as amazing as ever, and he's a natural."

Hiashi shook his head. "Kid these days sure are talented...I talked to Teuchi the other day, and his daughter Ayame already plays piano concerts for over 500 people."

"Yeah, I heard the oldest of the Inuzuka household is playing a decent bass already. Even better than she plays guitar, in fact."

Hiashi stared at nothing in particular. "...Whoa, that brings back memories...I think I still have my old bass somewhere..."

Fugaku nodded absent-mindedly. After a minute, he shook his head to return from the depths of his mind and said "...Anyway, let's get back to business. There's a lot to be dealt with. You _do _have the documents. right?"

Hiashi, too, warped back to the present and proceeded to browse through numerous documents, contracts and other official papers. They'd save the reminiscing for another time, Fugaku thought while Mikoto shredded a perfect Eagles solo.

-----

**There's chapter one, peoples. Hope you enjoyed the crappiness that came from my video-game-fried mind. There's more to come, as you might have figured out. xD Chapter two is almost done, too, so it may be up in a day or two. Hope this comes close to the epicness that was the original (apparently, because I didn't think it was that great at all...). **

**\m/**

**LazyNinja**


	2. Chapter 2: Metal Warriors

**A/N Chapter two. This is as far as I've gotten up until now. I gotta start on chapter three from scratch, so it could take a bit longer.**

**Songs: **

**Ace of Spades - Motörhead**

**Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple**

**War Ensemble - Slayer**

**Holy Diver - Dio**

Three years had passed, and thirteen-year old Itachi was staring out of the classroom window more asleep than wake. He didn't pay attention to the teacher; English class was one of his best subjects anyway. Instead, he stared out of the window, doodled on his books and wrote down random pieces of song lyrics by Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica, and other Heavy Metal bands. His best friend Hidan was sleeping on his desk, and their bass-playing friend Deidara was too busy playing his Game Boy to pay attention to something as unimportant as class.

Itachi's eyes wandered off from the sky and birds to the group of girls in the school courtyard. He recognized the cook-in-training Ayame, the pretty-but-aggressive Inuzuka girl (he believed her name was Hana), and the origami girl with the blue hair. Strange that he didn't know her name; he knew practically everyone who walked around on school grounds. When he realized he was staring at her, he ripped away his gaze from the girls and turned his attention to class, mainly because the teacher, Baki (Itachi and his friends always called him 'Baka' when they were talking about him), had called his name and was scolding him for not paying attention.

When the bell rang, Itachi grabbed his guitar bag and waited for Hidan and Deidara. The three friends walked out of the classroom together, to be greeted by their one-year senior friend Hoshigaki Kisame's pointy-toothed grin as soon as they got out of the door. He was the one who got Itachi into Heavy Metal rather than classic rock music by taking him and his friends to a concert.

"Oi, Uchiha!" a voice called. Itachi looked up to see their Biology teacher Ebisu approaching him. He rolled his eyes and mumbled a 'be right with ya' to his friends before turning to the teacher.

"If this is about that detention, I'm sorry I didn't show up. I just didn't want to be late for my guitar lessons."

"Your hobbies are no excuse to discard your education, Uchiha" Ebisu scolded him. "Without proper education, you will ruin your future-"

"Wrong."

"...and- What?"

Itachi sighed. "I said 'wrong'. We don't need no education. Leave us alone, dude, we won't ruin our future like you did."

"Eh-...Wha-...You won't get any job without proper schooling, young man!"

"Unless I'm smart enough to become a musician."

With that last comment, Itachi turned around and motioned his friends (who were laughing their asses off at Ebisu's dumbfounded expression) to get the hell outta there. When they were outside, the four friends grabbed their bikes and rode off with 'Ace of Spades' by Motörhead blasting from Kisame's portable radio.

Once home, Itachi grabbed a few cans of ice-cold Coca-Cola and headed up to his room. He heard Sasuke and the annoying hyperactive blonde kid from next door laugh and cheer; probably playing Sasuke's PlayStation again, Itachi thought.

Itachi connected his guitar to the big amp in his room and grabbed a sheet of random song tabs scattered all over his room. He warmed up by playing a few random riffs and took a look at the sheet. He smirked. This was easy.

The next two hours, non-stop guitar playing was heard throughout the house and outside, much to the annoyance of the neighbours (except for maybe the Uzumaki household, but then again, they're not exactly what society would call 'normal' anyway). Eventually, Sasuke and the blonde kid, Naruto, came to annoy him personally.

"Hey, Itachi!" Naruto called. "Can you play some Aerosmith?"

"Bro! Play more Guns N' Roses!"

"Shut up!"

"_You _shut up!"

Itachi rolled his eyes and hammered down a power chord. He then continued by playing the 'Smoke on the Water' riff at double speed, to end up with a razor-fast Slayer riff he mastered just this week. He smirked as he saw the two kids retreat covering their ears from the corner of his eye. Mission accomplished.

He was about to practice some Nirvana when he heard the phone ring. He rushed downstairs and picked up.

"Uchiha household, this is Itachi speaking."

"Sup, dude" Kisame said on the other end of the line. "You always pick up the phone that formal?"

Itachi could _hear _the smirk on the older boy's face and rolled his eyes. "Yes. It might be a business partner of my dad calling, and I don't want to make a bad impression."

"Bad impression my ass! You're a metalhead!"

"Not yet. What do you want?"

"Just thinking...how about we hook up and jam?"

"Who's coming?"

"Um, you."

Itachi sighed. "Fine. I'll be at your place in..." he looked at the clock, "ten minutes."

"A'ight, see ya."

"Later."

Itachi hung up and rushed back upstairs. He packed his guitar, grabbed a snack and rushed outside, almost running over his mother in the process. He yelled an "I'll be over at Kisame's" at her while jumping on his bike and hitting the pedals. Mikoto watched him go speechless and shook her head when her oldest son barely avoided hitting the elder lady Chiyo from across the street.

"Kids these days..."

-----

Itachi could already hear Kisame banging his drums a block away. He had to admit, Kisame was hella good at drumming. Drum solo, fast beat, faster beat, drum solo, double bass beat... He rang the doorbell, the drumming stopped and Kisame's grinning face hovered a foot above his head a second later.

"Ten minutes, my ass. You did it in four."

"Meh, who cares. Always be sure you'll be in time for an appointment."

Kisame looked at him deadpan. "...Dude, you _gotta _drop the businessman attitude. You're a metalhead. _Metal_, you know, that 'fuck you all, I'm no one's bitch' music? You sound like a classical nerd."

Itachi punched his friend in the shoulder and unpacked his guitar. He plugged it in to Kisame's rarely-used amp and warmed up with a random solo. Kisame smirked and seated himself behind his drum kit again. He counted "One, two, four, twelve, two and a half!" before throwing out a third drum solo.

Itachi finished his own solo and fell in sync with Kisame, playing 'Holy Diver' by Dio. Itachi tried to sing along, but he didn't know the full lyrics and his voice wasn't that great. He soon stopped playing, and turned to Kisame.

"You know, we should get Hidan to do that vocal shit. He can sing like a pro. About the only thing he's good at, though, but what the hell. Let's call him."

"You know, this is going to be more fun than I expected, dude." Kisame said smirking while following the Uchiha.

-----

**Like I said, the next chap may take a little longer, since my school officially started and I have to start the chapter from zero. Usually, I have a few hundred words already typed up. I don't know how that's gonna influence my stories, just that it will. Sigh. **

**Rock on**

**~LazyNinja**


	3. Chapter 3: Fight

**A/N Songs:  
****Orion - Metallica  
****The Hellion/Electric Eye - Judas Priest  
****Freewheel Burning - Judas Priest**

* * *

"...Alright. You want me to do _what_?"

"I already said it three times! Get that shit outta your ears and listen!" Itachi said frustrated. He heard Hidan chuckle. He glared at the Hidan face his mind projected on the wall. "Fuck you, dude. Like I was saying...Get your ass over here and jam."

"You want _me_? You _know_ how shitty I am on bass. Ask Deidara."

Itachi rolled his eyes. "Not talking about bass here, dumbass. I was talking about vocals. I'm not great and Kisame...well, he's Kisame. A Neanderthal is more civilized." He smirked at Kisame's glaring face and listened to Hidan cracking up on the other end of the line. "Are you up for it?"

"As retarded as this whole plan of you sounds, I am. This might be the _perfect _excuse to ditch out on homework more often. I'm running out of options, honestly. I have to resort to aliens and Sasqatch soon."

"Whatever. Get your ass over here ASAP, and we might have an hour and a half left."

"A'ight, see ya."

"Later."

Itachi hung up and turned to a smirking Kisame, kneeling in the dramatic way, his right hand pressed to his chest and the left raised up to the 'sky', saying "This might be the start of something beautiful, a gift from the angels, a sign of supernatural foces to us mortals that our destiny is in our hands-"

The guitarist kicked him hard and muttered "shut up, dude" while picking up his guitar. Kisame rubbed his hurting back while glaring at Itachi and grabbed his drum sticks. He banged out another tricky drum solo and fell in sync with Itachi, playing 'Orion'.

Five minutes later, the doorbell rang signaling the arrival of their singer. Itachi, too wound up in his solo, kept playing while shooting Kisame a short look meaning 'You get it'. Kisame rolled his eyes, smirked and got up to let Hidan in. He had been smart enough to bring his own mic (much to Itachi and Kisame's surprise; Hidan usually wasn't one of the brightest people around), because the one Kisame had pretty much sucked. Even Kisame himself, who took any degrading words on his gear as a personal insult, admitted that: he usually called it 'the sound dildo'. Hidan connected it and warmed up for a bit, before signaling his friends he was ready to go. Kisame counted down, Itachi fell in with the 'Electric Eye' riff by Judas Priest, and Hidan started singing.

_Up here in space  
I'm looking down on you  
My lasers trace  
Everything you do_

You think you've private lives  
Think nothing of the kind  
There is no true escape  
I'm watching all the time

I'm made of metal  
My circuits gleam  
I am perpetual  
I keep the country clean

I'm elected electric spy  
I'm protected electric eye

Always in focus  
You can't feel my stare  
I zoom into you  
You don't know I'm there

I take a pride in probing all your secret moves  
My tearless retina takes pictures that can prove

I'm made of metal  
My circuits gleam  
I am perpetual  
I keep the country clean

I'm elected electric spy  
I'm protected electric eye

Itachi, at this point, powerslided(*) across the room shredding the solo. He missed a note or two, yes, but what'd you expect from a 13-year old boy while he just learned it four days ago? Hidan and Kisame smirked at each other, and Hidan fell in again when Itachi played the last notes of the solo and fell into the original riffing.

Electric eye, in the sky  
Feel my stare, always there  
There's nothing you can do about it  
Develop and expose  
I feed upon your every thought  
And so my power grows

I'm made of metal  
My circuits gleam  
I am perpetual  
I keep the country clean

I'm elected electric spy  
I'm protected electric eye

Protected, detective, electric eye!

The last notes were played, and the three friends were slightly panting. Despite their heavy breathing, they were smirking at each other confidently. Kisame wiped the sweat off his forehead and said "Well...That could've been worse."

Hidan raised his arms to the sky (the ceiling, in fact) and screamed "This...this is the start of something that will help us achieve immortality!"

Kisame and Itachi sweatdropped, and Itachi said "...Shut up, dumbass. This sounded nothing like something yet. _If_, and only _if_, we are going to continue with this, We gotta play a LOT more. And we need a bass player."

"Dude, Deidara is a beast on bass, I told you. He'll be down for this. Invite him over next time."

"If there's going to be a next time in the first place" Kisame said. "I mean, I'm going with my dad on a business trip across Europe next week for a month, and you kind of need me for this."

"True..." Hidan said, disappointed. "You know what? We'll see. Whenever anyone feels like it, call me. I'll be down for some jamming."

Itachi and Kisame returned the smirk Hidan was giving them. Itachi nodded and Kisame said "Spoken like a true friend and Metalhead. 'To hell with it, just have fun'. That's the spirit."

Itachi packed his guitar and punched Hidan into giving his pick back, and sighed. He turned around and opened the door, and made the impression he was going to leave without a word. In the hallway, he said "Anyway, guys, I had a blast. I'll see you guys in school."

He exchanged confident smirks with Kisame and Hidan. "Call me when you need me."

* * *

One year later. Kisame, Hidan and Itachi had managed to talk Deidara into joining their jams, much to the annoyance of most of the teachers. The four biggest troublemakers in school were now unseperable. Had they eventually shown up at detention before, now, they could only yell as the four of them rode away with Metal blasting from Kisame's radio laughing hard.

They had jammed alright: usually once in two weeks was their standard. They were far from being a band, though; they still sticked too much to their own performances. Deidara and Hidan once got in a fight because Hidan had accidentally jumped into him during one of Itachi's solos, which resulted in two bruised bodies, a black eye on Hidan's face and a loose tooth in Deidara's mouth, a broken bass and a broken mic. That was during their last session, thus they concluded they had to lay low for a while.

Now-14-year-old Itachi rode home, pissed off beyond recognition because deep inside, he felt like Hidan had been right the first time. This could have been the start of something big. It also didn't help that he now lived in a bigger house on the other side of town. The house itself wasn't the problem, oh no: He now had a room as big as the living room was in their previous home. No, it was the 40-minute ride from there to school and back each day that made him want to tear his hair out. Especially on rainy days like this one. He dumped his bike in the garage, muttering a curse. Why aren't there any buses riding from here? Is it that hard to make an extra stop here? Sighing, Itachi turned around, only to almost break his knee by bashing it into his dad's motorcycle. Cursing his luck, he stomped up the stairs.

He concluded: Today was a hopeless day.

But, as unexpected as it seemed, he cheered up when his little brother came running to him holding a poster.

Many would say: "What the hell, it's just a lame poster." But to Itachi, it's wasn't the poster itself, it was what's _on _it that cheered him up significantly.

"Bro, look at this! Look! I can't believe this is actually happening!" 9-year-old Sasuke Uchiha yelled. He was poked by his older sibling to shut him up and the poster was ripped from his little hands. Its new owner was smiling happier than he had in a _long _time.

"Dude, this is awesome! We're going. I don't care what anyone says. If I have to, I'm going to drag mom and dad along."

* * *

The best news Itachi has _ever _heard.

He couldn't describe it any different. What Sasuke was holding was an advertisement poster for a festival. And not just any festival. No, this was going to be the biggest, baddest, most _epic _festival Rock music has ever seen since Woodstock.

_Paradise Classic Rock 93,4 and Metalhead 102,3 present:_

_**ANNIHILATION FEST**_

_**June 4, 5 and 6**_

_**Metallica - Guns N' Roses**_

_**Iron Maiden - Deep Purple**_

_**Motörhead - Aerosmith**_

_**Slayer - AC/DC**_

_**Judas Priest - Led Zeppelin**_

**AND MANY MORE !!!**

_Ticket sale starts Febuary 7._

Itachi laughed; laughed like he thought he never would since the horrible jamming session last week. His dad, just returning from work, cheered too. Mikoto, wondering what all the fuss was about, squealed like a young fangirl when she read the right side of the poster and nearly fainted if not supproted by her husband. Itachi ushered his family into the car and ordered his dad to hit the gas with 'Freewheel Burning' by Judas Priest playing on the radio.

* * *

**A/N Chapter 3. I still need to throw in more music, in my opinion. Three songs a chapter is just...well, not enough. On the (*) thing: I stole it from Tenacious D. Watch 'The Pick of Destiny' to see how it's done. Available on YouTube. **

**Expect chapter four to be up in a few days; maybe even by tomorrow if all is going well. FF stopped glitching on us, so there's a high probablility it'll be up soon. Besides, writing this story turned out easier than expected. Oh well. Life is full of surprises. **

**Rock on!**


	4. Chapter 4: Lady Evil

**A/N Songs: **

**Hit the Lights - Metallica**

**Rust in Peace...Polaris - Megadeth**

**Rock and Roll All Night - KISS**

**2 Minutes to Midnight - Iron Maiden**

-----

Four hours later, the family returned. With four tickets to Annihilation Fest in Fugaku's wallet. They celebrated it by putting Fugaku's drum kit back together and dusting off the old mic that Sasuke found and used to _jam_. Jam like Itachi's 'band' never had. Perfectly, smoothly, neat sounding. laughing at Sasuke's attempt to imitate Itachi's powerslide. Screaming "More more more!" when Fugaku banged out drum solo after drum solo. Standing back to back while shredding the same solos. And happily dropping their tired bodies on the huge couch afterwards, still grinning like idiots.

Itachi looked up. "Dude, I wish my friends and I could sound like that. That was _perfect_."

"The key is experience, son," Fugaku said panting. "We as a family, we've been through a lot together. That reflects in our playing. We know each other like no one else, we _trust _each other like no one else. We back each other up when needed, we tease each other about mistakes, and we sit and laugh upon failing. It's all about trust and companionship, really."

"...I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, dad."

That night, Itachi lay awake in his bed. He kept tossing and turning, but couldn't let go of his consciousness. His father's words kept roaming in his head.

'Trust...Do I trust my friends? Would I trust Hidan with a secret? Would I trust _anyone _of them with a secret...?'

When his mind didn't reply with a determined _"Of course you would, idiot"_, he banged his head in his pillow. How did you know your friends wouldn't spill all of your secrets the second you weren't around?

_"THAT is trust, dumbass. If they do, you'll know one thing for sure and that's that they aren't real friends."_

'Shut up. I'm trying to think here!'

_"Think _better_. If...say, Kisame busted you crying to a chick-flick, would you feel good about it?"_

'Would I...I dunno...He might...you know, tease me with it...'

_"But would he scream that you cried to a chick-flick the next day in class?"_

'...Probably not. Actually, _definetely _not.'

_"There you go. You'd trust Kisame with an embarrassing secret like that. He can stay. Next, Deidara."_

'Deidara never says much. He's more like invisible. He won't talk.'

_"Bingo. Since he's the silent type, he wouldn't want all the attention, and secondly he usually knows the pain of embarrassment. Leaves Hidan."_

Itachi frowned. Was Hidan really his best friend? 'I dunno about him...'

_"Would he back you up in a fight?"_

'He already did, now that I think about it...'

_"Did he laugh at you when you told your class you wanted to become a rock star, like the rest did?"_

'He said he agreed with me..."anything better than a lame-ass cliché job", he said.'

_"Three's a crowd. You trust your friends, don't worry about that. I think that's not the problem. You just haven't been friends for that long, I reckon."_

That could be it...Just haven't experienced enough together...'But that will change,' Itachi thought. 'That's going to change. Fer sure!'

And with a smile on his face, Itachi drifted off into a peaceful, grateful sleep.

-----

"Sasuke, hurry up! We're going to be late!"

"Shut up, I'm tying my shoelace!"

"Just hurry the fuck up!"

"Itachi! Watch your language, young man!"

"Sorry, mom. Force of habit, I guess."

"Itachi, could you help me with these?" his father asked, dragging a tent, four makeshift beds, clean changes of clothes, and tons of other stuff out. Itachi rushed over to help his dad loading all of it in the blinking new car. He then rushed upstairs to grab his mother's and his acoustic guitars, for the bonfire parties at night. At least, that's what his mother said; this was his first time going to a festival.

When they finally, _finally_ drove off, Itachi started to get more and more anxious. After all, he got to see all of his favorite bands, all on one stage. The CD pile Sasuke had loaded contained a few discs for every of their likings: Guns for his mom, AC/DC for his dad, Van Halen for Sasuke and Metallica for him. Sasuke even picked their best albums. In any case, they'd get through the six hour drive.

Hours of singing along, headbanging, air guitaring and acoustic shredding later, Itachi jumped out of the car at a gas station. His father was filling it up, Sasuke ran after a stray rabbit and his mom was getting some food.

Music was _everywhere_; the van closest to him was banging out random Metallica songs from the early days. He swore he heard 'Hit the Lights' play when another van passed by, probably loaded with speakers judging from the volume 'Rust in Peace...Polaris' assaulted his ear drums. He smirked, grabbed his guitar and started riffing when a familiar voice made him jump.

"Well well, isn't this a small world, huh dude?"

Itachi looked up. "Dude, what are _you_ doing here?" He returned the smirk Hoshigaki Kisame was giving him and stood up. "Going to Annihilation too, I assume?"

"Duh. Motörhead, Metallica _and _Slayer, all on one stage? I'd hang myself if I missed it. Hold on, I'ma go grab my bongos," Kisame said walking away. Itachi sweatdropped, but followed him nonetheless.

"...You brought your bongos?"

"Duh. It was that, or a set of pans. So I called the bongos."

"No shit. That would be like...me having to choose between a lute and an acoustic guitar."

"Or even worse, a bow."

Itachi smirked. "True that. Nothing worse than a violin."

"I happen to like violins," an unknown voice said from behind them. "I think they'd go great with Metal."

Itachi and Kisame turned around to see the blue-haired Origami girl from school. Kisame shot her a weird look. "Violins and Metal is like water and oil. Impossible to mix, and hella dirty. So why don't you just bug off and go fuck yourself, Konan?"

Itachi punched Kisame in the gut and apologized to the girl, whose name he now knew was Konan. Konan just glared at him and walked away. Itachi returned the glare and picked up his guitar from the ground. He dragged along a glaring and seething Kisame to the Hoshigaki family van to pick up the bongos, greeted Kisame's parents, gladly took a can of Coca-Cola ms. Hoshigaki offered him, and left again to jam.

Five minutes later, Itachi, Kisame, Mikoto, Sasuke and Deidara (also going to Annihilation and somehow talked his dad into loading his amp in their Hippy van) were jamming all sorts of famous songs, one legend after another. When Itachi switched riffs from 'Rock and Roll All Night' by KISS to 'Two Minutes to Midnight' by Iron Maiden, Mikoto and Sasuke dropped out; they didn't know the song after all. To the three young Metalheads' surprise, a familiar female voice took Sasuke's role as vocalist and joined the jam.

_Kill for gain or shoot to maim  
But we don't need a reason  
The Golden Goose is on the loose  
And never out of season_

_  
Blackened pride still burns inside  
This shell of bloody treason  
Here's my gun for a barrel of fun  
For the love of living death!_

The killer's breed or the demon's seed,  
The glamour, the fortune, the pain,  
Go to war again, blood is freedom's stain,  
Don't you pray for my soul anymore

_  
2 minutes to midnight  
The hands that threaten doom.  
2 minutes to midnight  
To kill the unborn in the womb!_

At this moment Kisame stopped playing, causing the others to stop too. Deidara was just in time to stop Kisame from assaulting the slightly arrogantly smirking girl in front of them.

"I guess I'll take that as an 'I was wrong about you', Hoshigaki." Konan said while walking up to the middle of the group. She poked Kisame's forehead, and Deidara had a hard time to keep the seething drummer from killing the blue-haired girl.

Itachi couldn't suppress an amused 'hn': everybody knew Kisame was the _last _pesron to ever admit he was wrong, _ever_. He was an extremely sore loser and could be pissed for _days_ if someone beat him at something as stupid as checkers.

Konan turned to the awed guitarist, smiling sweetly. "Not what you expected, Itachi?"

"...How do you know my name?"

"Oh, give me a break. Everyone in school knows of you guys. Well- you know why," she added with a cautious glance at Mikoto's sharp look. Itachi knew that look all too well and gulped; it was the infamous 'I-am-so-going-to-ask-you-about-this-later'-look.

Konan stretched like a cat and said "...Well, better get going. I'll see you in school, Itachi, Deidara." She winked at Deidara, smiled sweetly at Itachi (who couldn't help but think how pretty she was) and shot a death glare that could rival Fugaku's at Kisame. Said drummer gladly returned that glare, though still restrained by the blonde bassist.

She walked away, and when she disappeared in the crowd, Deidara deemed it safe to release a fuming Kisame. As soon as he was free, he yelled "That bitch is _dead _next time she shows that arrogant mug of hers!"

"Not so fast, young man" Kisame's dad said. Itachi looked up and saw all of their parents gathering around their offspring. Itachi and Kisame gulped, and Deidara looked genuinely terrified. "I think you have a bit of explaining to do. What have you been up to?"

At that point, Itachi knew they were busted.

He also knew he was beginning to hate Konan.

-----

**Here you go. Chapter four. I had **_**no idea**_** where to cut it, so I stopped being lazy for once and typed some more words than I had planned. I also checked how many songs I had to 5* on GH: Metallica for a full game 5*. Only 7 to go. With five Metallica tracks among those ('Fight Fire with Fire', 'Battery', 'Hit the Lights', 'Disposable Heroes' and 'Dyers Eve'). **

**So much for random boring facts on my GH addiction. Chapter five is going to be a bitch to write, because of the renowned character death. -.- Something I'm not looking forward to, but fuck it. It's gotta happen sometime. **

**\m/**

**~LazyNinja**


	5. Chapter 5: No More Lies

**A/N Songs:  
****Curse of the Pharaos - Mercyful Fate  
****Ride the Lightning - Metallica  
****Fade to Black - Metallica  
****Top of the World - Van Halen**

**Don't own again.**

* * *

They were _fucked_.

_Big time._

And all would have been fine if that annoying Konan bitch wouldn't have showed up. Fuck her beauty, she was the reason their parents had found out about his...group's 'escapades'. Itachi cursed inwardly. This was probably going to cost them a shitload of jamming time.

Not like they were still jamming, but whatever.

When Itachi and Deidara remained exceptionally silent regarding mr. Hoshigaki's question, Kisame shrugged. "Fine. If you are all going to chicken out, I'll do it." He sighed the overly dramatic. "Where to begin? The slow but steady creation of a divine alliance known to humankind as a rock band, our rebellion against the corrupted tyranny society calls education and deems necessary-"

"Drop the fancy talk, son, and I think a grounding is in order here. How about...a day for each word you just said in your little speech?"

Kisame's jaw dropped. "What? But- but that's like a month!"

"Your problem, not mine."

Mikoto looked down on Itachi sternly and said. "I think it's but fair that you get equal punishment, young man."

Deidara got the same month grounding. Itachi made a note to self to kill Kisame first chance he gets, and cursed Hidan's luck for not being here at this moment.

That is, until the three young Metalheads heard an all too familiar voice yell "What the hell!? A _month_ grounded for having fun!? What is this world _coming_ to if you can't even jam with your friends any more!?"

"If you are going to argue, be my guest. But it will only get you into deeper shit, son!"

"Fine, have it your way!" Hidan yelled at his father and turned to his 'bandmates'. "What's up, fellas?"

Two seconds of complete silence passed before the four teens burst out laughing. The adults couldn't help but smile amused at their little troublemakers either. As Hidan's father would say: they might be a pain in the ass, but they sure keep life interesting.

"Well then" Fugaku said. "Now that this is solved, how about we all get going again? I don't think a little quarrel like this is worth missing Annihilation."

* * *

Itachi found himself playing for a bunch of people about four minutes later. He borrowed an electric guitar from Hidan's father (a white Fender Strat in horrible condition; it surprised him that it didn't fall apart from misery) and was shredding a few solos while standing on the hood of his dad's car. He was loudly cheered on by his brother and friends, and even more people joined when he started playing the harder licks.

Soon Hidan and Deidara joined him on vocals and bass respectively; they decided maybe it was time to ditch the 'laying-low' plan and just get back to what they did best.

Well, what they did best _besides_ causing trouble.

Where Hidan had managed to pull a mic from will always stay a mystery to everyone besides Hidan himself, but right now he was singing an extremely high-pitched Mercyful Fate song called 'Curse of the Pharaos' flawless. It made Kisame yell that he wondered how much kicks in the balls the young vocalist took, earning a laugh from the people close enough to hear over the noise.

Deidara apparently got bored of his bass loops, because he was now playing a Burton-style bass solo during the instrumental bridge. Hidan, who always yelled how soloing on a bass is a desecration to the guitar, looked jaw-dropped at the blond boy at his right.

You could say what you wanted about Deidara, but not that he wasn't skilled.

The 'band' earned a last round of applause when they finished the song and packed up. Kisame smacked the three of them yelling triumphantly. "Dudes, we're back on track. When Annihilation is over, we are _definetely_ getting back to jamming."

"Positive. We kicked ass."

"Sure did! Dude, I didn't know you were that awesome on bass!"

Deidara couldn't suppress a smirk. "Thanks to you, my friend. My old bass was a piece of shit, and my dad promised me that I could get a new one when that thing died on me. You only sped things up for me. Now I've got this thing, and it's _way _better than my old piece of shit."

"Heh, so basically you owe me for breaking your stuff. That's a first."

"...More or less, yes," Deidara said sighing. Hidan smirked.

"Naw, we're good. I got to kick your ass for stealing my Game Boy all the time, and you gave me another good excuse to ditch out of school. Makes up for it."

Itachi and Kisame exchanged meaningful looks, saying 'dude, we're the only sane ones here'.

* * *

The four of them were called off by their parents, because it was time to hit the road again. Itachi called the radio this time, and stuffed Metallica's 'Ride the Lightning' album in the CD player. His family obviously had to get used to the fast and heavy riffing. Though Mikoto said she had respect for the lead guitarist for busting out so many ripping solos, and Fugaku admitted he liked the heavy sound they produced. Sasuke still hated it: he was covering his ears and refused to listen to every song Itachi suggested, even the kind-of-ballad 'Fade to Black'.

When Itachi received his share of metal for the day, Fugaku played AC/DC's killer album 'High Voltage', followed by Van Halen's 'For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge'. Mikoto and Itachi were playing along to some songs, and Sasuke finally stopped sulking because of the Thrash he was forced to hear when 'Top of the World' played. He loudly started singing along.

_Hey, baby. Woo!_

I know you believe in me  
That's all I ever need. Uh-huh  
No no, nothin's gonna stop it  
Nothin' will discourage me. Oh, no

Hey baby, it's the only way out  
Oh, little darlin', now come on  
What's it all about?

Standin' on top of the world  
For a little while  
Standin' on top of the world  
Gonna give it all we got

Oh, I know you wanna touch  
I got to have a little taste  
I just wanna sink my teeth in that  
Fine piece o' real estate. Yeah

Hey baby, woo! Make it nice 'n sweet. Ooh!  
Oh, little darlin'  
Let's take a walk down Easy Street

Standin' on top of the world  
For a little while  
Standin' on top of the world  
Let's give it all we got

Fugaku frowned and squited his eyes to look at something. Mikoto noticed and put away her guitar, looking at what probably was a drunk driver.

"That kind of people shouldn't be allowed to drive around."

"True that. I mean, he's all over the- HOLY SHIT!!"

Screeching tires, a loud crash, and then utter silence and darkness.

* * *

Itachi never saw what hit them; he only knew that it wasn't good. When he regained consciousness, his vision was blurry and his hearing distorted; he only saw a face-shaped object moving from his sight and the other one yelled something like 'still alive' at it. Itachi winced. Now that he was awake again, he was hit by a sharp burst of pain throughout most of his body. A strong hand forced his struggling body down.

"Don't move. We're still treating your injuries" a clear friendly-sounding female voice said. "You got lucky, actually. Only one broken rib. Two bruised ribs, sprained knee, and minor concussion."

"..Wha-...eve...r..." Itachi forced out of his throat with great effort, and concluded talking was a bad idea. There was just one more question he _had _to ask.

"Wh...what the...he-...happ...ened?"

The woman's face dropped. "Something...horrible." She covered her face and took a few calming breaths. "A drunk driver caused a terrible accident."

Itachi didn't hear the rest, as his vision blackened again. So much for Annihilation Fest.

* * *

An unknown amount of time later, Itachi woke up again in a hospital bed. His head felt like a truck load of concert amps had just been dropped on it. He tried to move, but was restrained by the pain every simple movement cause him.

He looked around. He was tied up to several machines, for unknown reasons. There were four tubes sticking out of his arm, one leading to what he knew was blood. He didn't know what the others were for and he didn't care; he just wanted to know what the hell happened and why he ended up here.

Though he already knew he wasn't going to like it.

About five minutes later, an unknown guy came in. He was wearing a white coat, so Itachi reckoned he was a doctor. He looked up, surprised that the young guitarist was awake. He then looked down.

"Kid, first of all, thank god that you made it. Things turned out worse than we expected, with internal bleedings and all. You've got one hell of a will to survive. I have never seen anyone your age live through an open stomach surgery while in such a weakened condition."

Itachi sighed and foced himself to talk. "...Cut the crap, doc." His voice was raspy and his throat was dry. "What the hell happened?"

"You were in a terrible accident."

"Figured...that much out...by myself. How's the rest...?"

"Your brother broke a leg, and must have hit his head pretty hard. He's still out. The usual cuts and bruises, too, but otherwise he's fine." The doctor took a breath. "Your father's injuries are still being treated. He'll live, though. He will probably end up in a wheelchair for the time being. His right leg was shattered, and his right arm broken in three places. Among other minor and intermediate injuries."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The doctor looked down. "...I hate my job...As for your mother..."

Itachi already felt it coming.

"...She didn't make it. I'm sorry, kid."

**

* * *

**

Finally, chapter five. With Mikoto's dramatic death scene. I hated writing this as much as the doctor hated his job. Now it's just up to Itachi to make up for it by causing a fuss on her funeral. Which he will. Trust me, he will. -evil smirk- Until then.

Rock on.

**P.S. I love being allowed to bring my laptop to school. I'm in the train while typing this, chilling out after I won a bet with my teacher. I aced her spelling test (too easy), and was allowed to ditch class for the rest of the day. xD So I finished this chapter on my way home, and now it's here. Oh yeah, and I love espresso. Dunno what it had to do with this chapter, but I just felt like putting it in. Later!**


	6. Chapter 6: Mother

**A/N Songs:  
****Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N' Roses**

* * *

Itachi cried.

Cried and cried and cried.

What dit it matter anymore? His mother was gone.

The world was done for.

Sasuke was allowed to roam around the hospital a day later, and could always be found at Itachi's room. Together, they listened music and just embraced each other. Sasuke was old enough to realize that his mother was gone forever, and that made Itachi even feel worse. A kid his age shouldn't be confronted with something like this.

They were moved to Fugaku's room the day after, so that the ripped family could share their grief. Doctors didn't bother them when given the chance, to let the three Uchiha mourn their loss.

Relatives, friends, acquintances, business partners, and loads of other unimportant people kept sending cards and gifts, but they were tossed aside without even so much as a look. Though they were appreciated for receiving so much support.

Two weeks later, the Uchiha family was released from the hospital, and off to arrange Mikoto's funeral. Shit had to be done sometime, so might as well just get to it, Fugaku said. Right now, he couldn't care less about a foul mouth in front of his 9-year old son. About time Sasuke started talking rock star language, anyway.

* * *

Itachi and Fugaku were sitting at the dinner table, with Mikoto's parents, her two sisters, their husbands, and some other dude who got paid for arranging this crap. First issue: Burial or cremation? Mikoto's mother was ranting on about gravestones and stuff when Fugaku grew tired of it and interrupted her.

"...Miho, as much as you may hate it, Mikoto wasn't the type of person to lay in a box for all eternity. She'd prefer to go out with a bang. That's just how she was. So I'd say cremation."

Miho was speechless and furious, but the Uchiha father and son didn't give a shit. This was _Mikoto_'s thing, not that of her mother. The lame dude in way too expensive clothing laughed nervously. "Well then, that seems rather clear."

Itachi shot him a glare and the dude shut up. Miho in her turn shot Itachi a foul look (she hated him and his metalhead antics) and continued "...Fine then. Music."

And there she went, off into rant-mode again. 'Slow, classical compostions' and 'beautifully poetic songs' were two dreaded terms Itachi picked up, and rolled his eyes. This time, he was the one to interrupt his grandmother's rant.

"Grandma, _shut up_."

"..._What did you say, young man!?_"

Itachi sent an intense glare her way. "I said 'shut up'. This is my mother's funeral, not yours. As much as I hate that fact."

"Why you- If you are suggesting-"

"No! I don't give a _fuck _abot your opinion on me, my music, or whatever! This is about my mother, the woman that happens to be _your daughter_! If you cannot accept the fact that she wasn't the ideal daughter you had pictured in your mind, then that's _your fucking problem_!" He ignored the death glares he was getting, too a breath and continued his outburst. "My father and I will be deciding on the music played next week. And yes, that _is _going to be rock music. If you can't deal with that fact, by all means stay away."

Miho was speechless, and would probably disown Itachi first chance she got. But he didn't give a shit anymore. _All his life _his grandmother had been bitching about the 'horrible excuse for music' his mother allowed them to listen, and now he was full of it. He returned her glare proudly.

"You can't control life, old hag. Life will rebel, like my mother did. Like _I _did, like Sasuke will do when he grows up. Youth always rebels against your old-fashioned ideas."

Miho stood up, sent Fugaku a death glare like no others probably meaning 'this-is-all-your-fault' and then left the room without a word. The tension was still hanging in the air, so thick that you could almost touch it. The funeral dude looked from Fugaku to Miho's husband Takagi to Itachi, grinning nervously. Fugaku smirked.

"That settles things. Well done, Itachi."

* * *

The day of Mikoto's funeral, Itachi, Fugaku and Sasuke were all dressed up in black suits with black ties. Itachi did wear his sneakers, though. He looked over all the people he didn't know: all of his dad's business partners, all of the cousins he only saw once a year, friends of his grandparents... He caught sight of his grandma, returned the fierce glare she was giving him and turned his back on her, walking over to a smirking Kisame. He had told his friends about his fight with her, and Kisame had been the first one to officially welcome him into the metalhead ranks.

He grabbed his guitar bag and sat down. He purposely didn't look at his grandma sitting only a few chairs next to him when Fugaku walked up to the mic.

"Good afternoon, and thanks for coming everyone. Today we are here to mourn the loss of my beautiful wife and loving mother of our two kids, Uchiha Mikoto." He took a deep breath. "Carefree, stubborn, fun-loving and compassionate is how we knew her best. She was taken from us far too soon, and..." He took a short break to wipe his eyes clean of surfacing tears, "and we will remember her as a strong, honest and above all, a good person."

The pressure was getting a bit too much to handle for Fugaku, so he went back to his seat, tears streaming over his face. Itachi pulled himself together and walked up to the mic.

"Mikoto Uchiha...mom, I never had the chance to thank you for everything you've done for me. I will never be able to express my gratitude for dealing with me when I was making you lose your mind. Never will I be able to thank you for all those times you just let me scream out everything that was on my own mind. Never...never will I be able to thank you for this thing," he said while picking up his guitar.

"Mom, this one's for you. Here's 'Sweet Child O' Mine' by Guns N' Roses, your favorite song."

Itachi let the tears stream as the infamous intro riff of the aforementioned song filled the room. He lost himself in the notes, playing every single one with equal pain and sadness. He didn't care that his voice wasn't that good; this was _his _thing.

_She's got a smile that it seems to me  
Reminds me of childhood memories  
Where everything  
Was as fresh as the bright blue sky _

_  
Now and then when I see her face  
She takes me away to that special place  
And if I'd stare too long  
I'd probably break down and cry_

_Sweet child o' mine  
Sweet love of mine_

_She's got eyes of the bluest skies  
As if they thought of rain  
I hate to look into those eyes  
And see an ounce of pain_

_Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place  
Where as a child I'd hide  
And pray for the thunder and the rain  
To quietly pass me by_

_Sweet child o' mine  
Sweet love of mine_

Itachi looked up and his gaze caught his grandmother's. He looked her in the eye with a renewed spark of determination. This was what he lived for, he thought as he started the solo.

_Where do we go  
Where do we go now  
Where do we go  
Sweet child o' mine_

When he finished the song, he received a loud round of applause, except from his grandmother. He had expected that, and decided to rub it in some more as he repositioned the mic.

"My mother was a rebel. A rebel against the previous generations and their old-fashioned bitching about things they have no fucking idea of (a shocked gasp went through the room at his choice of words). Religious bullshit that rock and roll is Satan's work and similar crap, that's what she stood up against. Me, and all of my fellow metalheads, thank not only my mother, but every single member of that rebellion. Because if not for them, we wouldn't be what we are today. Metal up yo' fuckin' asses. Peace."

Again, lots of people were thoroughly offended by his words. Words like 'blasphemy' and 'disrespectful' were heard from everywhere, but Kisame just smirked and mouthed 'spoken like a true metalhead, dude'. Some dude Itachi didn't know walked up to the mic.

"Er...thanks, Itachi, for sharing your exceptionally...um..._straightforward_...view on things. Well then. I would like to..."

Itachi didn't pay attention any more after his stunt. He had set things straight for himself while playing. He was going to change his life.

_Big time._

* * *

**A/N  
****XD Sorry, Mikoto. But I just **_**had**_** to make Itachi say that. He's taking his Metalhead education pretty seriously now. And he's stopped caring about something as pointless as public opinion. I had a blast writing this chapter. For real. I **_**so **_**want to do that once in my life at someone's funeral. **

**Next: the formation of Akatsuki!**

**Metal up yo' ass**

**~LazyNinja**


	7. Chapter 7: Time is Right

**A/N Songs:**

**None... Wait, **_**NONE!? HOW!?**_

**-----**

"Dude, you were _brilliant_! Great speech, man!"

"You've got guts, Itachi. Not many people would use such...'to-the-point'-kind of words."

"You should be ashamed! At your _own mother's funeral_! How _dare _you!?"

"Damn straight, Uchiha! That was spot on!"

"Blasphemy! He is not worth the name of Uchiha!"

Itachi smirked. This is what he always wanted. Shocking people was _great_. His father walked over to him, slightly smirking too. He whispered that he thought it was undeniably true, but that he still shouldn't have said it. Itachi shrugged.

"At least mom's funeral will always be remembered now. That's the most important thing. She'll never be forgotten."

"Can't argue with that..." Fugaku said while sighing and walking away again to talk to some business partners.

Itachi walked to his friends and nodded at the door. They followed his lead silently, and bursted out laughing as soon as the door closed. Itachi just smirked triumphantly and raised the popular 'metal horns' sign. Kisame ruffled his hair and Deidara kept saying that he deserved a medal of honor.

"Up the horns for Itachi!" Hidan screamed Death Metal-style. His friends gave him weird looks.

"Since when were you able to do that?" Deidara asked. Hidan shrugged.

"Meh, some time ago. I thought it sounded pretty cool."

"Definetely. Now what did you want us outside for, your Royal Highness of Heavy Metal?" Kisame said turning to Itachi.

Itachi smirked and said "Shut up, dude. I was just going to plan our next jamming session. We'll see each other at Kisame's tomorrow at the crack of noon."

"Your wish is our command, 'Itachi of the Iron Axe'."

Itachi punched his drumming friend in the gut and glared at the other two who were laughing their asses off. He jerked his head at the building after looking on his watch. It was time to go back to being sad again.

-----

Itachirang the doorbell. It took Kisame only a second (literally) to answer it. The guitarist was greeted by the drummer's wide grin and a friendly punch in the shoulder. He glared away the 'you're late' Deidara was giving him upon entering the living room, and dropped his body in one of the bean bags spread around. He listened to Kisame and Deidara's bitching on Hidan for a while, and just got up to grab a drink when the doorbell rang again. He opened the door, punched his best friend for being such a tard and grabbed his guitar.

"Alright, my friends. I have gathered you here on this beautiful day to make an important announcement. My mother's death opened my eyes again and made me realize that if we want to _do _something with our lives, _now _is the time. So I suggest taking this up a notch. From jamming buddies to an actual band. What say thee?"

-----

Itachi looked to his bandmates expectantly. His proposal to take their music to the next level wasn't _that_ bad, right? He glared at his friends and Kisame smirked. "...Dude, I thought you'd never see the light. I'm down."

"Same here" Deidara said while going back to tuning his bass. Hidan had the maniacal glint in his eyes again.

"Yes...Yes! This is it! We are getting closer, we're about to grasp immortality- ow!" He yelled when Kisame threw his sticks at Hidan's head. "Jeez, can't a guy make a joke? I ditched the whole zombie thing a long time ago!"

Kisame ignored him and turned to Itachi. "Any idea how you want to call this bunch of idiots, dude?"

Itachi stared at the ground in thought. "I was thinking...since this is a new dawn in our lives, we should name ourselves accordingly."

"Just 'Dawn', you mean" Deidara said deadpan. Itachi nodded.

"Basically."

"Lame."

"Got any better ideas, dumbass!?"

"I have" Hidan said. "I mean, 'Dawn' as a concept sounds good, but to use it as a band name...I'd suggest 'Lever du Soleil'."

"Just translating it to French isn't much better, dipshit" Kisame said rolling his eyes. Itachi froze.

"...Maybe..."

"Maybe what, dude?"

Itachi grabbed a pen and began drawing something that looked like a Japanese kanji. When he was done and showed it to the rest, they plainly stared at it. Kisame shrugged expectantly.

"This kanji means 'dawn' or 'daybreak' in Japanese. It's pronounced like 'akatsuki'. That's going to be the name of our fucking band."

"...'Akatsuki'?"

"Not bad...I like the sound of that."

"Meh, could have been worse" Kisame concluded. "I can't read that shit for my life, and for all I know you could've written down 'The Idiot Squad' on that paper and make us believe it was something really kickass. Though you wouldn't do that, since you're in this too."

"Exactly. Now then, every one for 'Akatsuki'?"

"Down."

"Down..."

"Down lower than ever."

"Then it's decided. We are Akatsuki, the new dawn in Heavy Metal."

-----

Itachi let his guitar screech while Hidan maintained his vocal scream so long that it _couldn't _be good for the throat. Kisame banged out a really tech drum solo, and Deidara had already dropped his bass and was sipping from his coffee. He smirked as Hidan stopped his scream and fell on the ground, exhausted. Deidara threw a water bottle at him.

"Drink, dumbass. And work on it. The last ten seconds sounded like you were shitting from your throat."

"Fuck you, dude..." Hidan said panting heavily. The rest smirked.

"Anyway. We're getting closer to where we have to be, fellas" Itachi said. "Even though Hidan's scream sounded like shit and Deidara was being a lazy ass." He smirked at the glares he was getting. "A couple more sessions should do it. Then we're ready to take it to the stage."

"Why wait?" Kisame asked. "I think we're already good enough, if Deidara stops being such a lazy ass."

"Because there's spring break in two weeks."

Hidan, Kisame and Deidara looked at him, shocked and disgusted. Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"...Who are you and what have you done to Itachi Uchiha?" Deidara yelled.

"Dude, since when do _you _of all people care about _school_!?"

"...Good point. Let's go."

Deidara stared at him. "...Wait, you mean like _right now_?"

Itachi rolled his eyes. "No shit, dumbass. We've still got time. Don't tell me you aren't up for the challenge."

"Yeah" Kisame added. "Don't give me a reason to kill you right here and now, you lazy shit, and get your ass moving." He looked to Hidan. "You, too. Help us pack up our shit and let's get the fuck on the road."

Hidan smirked, cleared his throat in a vain attempt to make the pain go away, unplugged Deidara and Itachi's amps and carried them...nowhere. He suddenly realized they had no form of transport.

None.

He turned to his friends. "Dudes, how are we going to get there?"

Kisame shook his head, smirking. "Hidan, Hidan...You have a lot to learn, my young friend. We drive, of course."

"Who's goinna drive?"

"Well, duh. I am," Kisame replied.

"You aren't allowed to drive, you _do_ realize that, right?"

"Like I said, a lot to learn. I'm taking the old hippy van, and let's just hope to Dio that we don't encounter any defenders of the law and order."

Itachi, Deidara and Hidan laughed. This was what they lived for. _This _was life. Deidara helped Kisame dismantle his kit and dragging it to the van, Hidan picked up the amps again and waited for his bassist and drummer to put the kit in the van. Itachi gathered all the cables, Hidan's mic, his guitar and Deidara's bass and followed his friends outside. They all knew, but just didn't want to.

This was doomed to fail.

-----

**A/N XD Kisame is fun to write. Like, really. He actually managed to make it to my list of favorite characters because of it. Also because he's blue, and blue is awesome, but whatever. XD **

**Next up: More gigs, an argument, and a big problem for the newfound band. Until then.**

**Rock on!  
~LazyNinja**


	8. Chapter 8: Departure

**A/N Songs:  
****Run to the Hills - Iron Maiden  
Jump - Van Halen**

**Still don't own.**

* * *

How they managed to make it to the open mic night in one piece and without any sign of police will always be a mystery to them, but they made it nonetheless. Kisame was unloading his drum kit with help from Hidan, while Deidara (who still looked like he was going to throw up any moment, courtesy of Kisame's driving skill) and Itachi carried their amps and guitars.

Once their stuff was set up and connected correctly (Deidara got so annoyed with the technician dude that he pushed him away and did it himself in half the time the other dude got Hidan's mic alone done), Akatsuki took the stage. Hidan grabbed his mic.

"Hey, what's up. We're Akatsuki. We're here today to rock your pop-fried brains with some _real _music. This one is for all you metalheads out there-"

Itachi rolled his eyes and pushed his friend away from the mic. "Cut the crap, dumbass. This is 'Run to the Hills' by Iron Maiden. Hit it."

Hidan glared at him, Deidara smirked and Kisame started the infamous drum intro. Itachi returned the glare, which soon changed into a smirk as he started playing. Hidan smirked back, and started singing.

_White man came across the sea  
He brought us pain and misery  
He killed our tribes, he killed our creed  
He took our game for his own need_

We fought him hard we fought him well  
Out on the plains we gave him hell  
But many came too much for Cree  
Oh will we ever be set free?

Riding through dustclouds and barren wastes  
Galloping hard on the plains  
Chasing the redskins back to their holes  
Fighting them at their own game  
Murder for freedom a stab in the back  
Women and children the cowards attack!

Run to the hills,  
run for your lives!  
Run to the hills,  
run for your lives!

Soldier blue on the barren wastes  
Hunting and killing their game  
Raping the women and wasting the men  
The only good Indians are tame  
Selling them whiskey and taking their gold  
Enslaving the young and destroying the old

Run to the hills,  
run for your lives!

_Run to the hills,  
run for your lives!_

Itachi lost himself in the notes like he usually did when playing solos, but this was unlike anything before. Everything around him muted, like someone turned off the master volume of the world. The only thing he heard was his guitar strings vibrating and forming the notes he fretted. Time seemed to move slower, too. His fingers moved in slow-motion across the fret board, causing the solo to sound slowed down by half its original speed too. He wondered if this is what his mother had felt like when she was still performing.

The solo drew closer to its end, and sound returned to Itachi's ears. Applause ringed across the room, and he noticed everyone was looking at him. Upon realizing this, he smirked, hammered down the last few notes and fell into the original riffing. Kisame banged out a small drum solo and Hidan picked up the vocals again.

Run to the hills,  
run for your lives!  
Run to the hills,  
run for your lives!

Run to the hills,  
run for your lives!  
Run to the hills,

_Run for your lives...!_

Akatsuki played the last note of their first live song performance. They took the applause with a raised hand. The announcer dude came onstage again, while the four young metalheads packed up their stuff again. After loading it in the van, they went back inside and grabbed a drink.

"For a first time, that wasn't half bad," Deidara said. Hidan agreed.

"Not at all. We rocked." He turned to Itachi. "Dude, what the hell did you _do _there? You were like completely spacing out, but played _flawless_. Like Murray himself, dude."

"I dunno" Itachi said truthfully. "Everything around me suddenly went silent and the world seemed like slow-mo."

"Weird."

"But kickass," Kisame said shrugging. The rest agreed, and decided to shut up about it. They watched some other band play Van Halen's 'Jump', and booed at the guitarist for skipping the solo. The band onstage ignored the young musicians and gladly took the offer to play another song when another act didn't show up. Itachi stood up and walked away.

"Let's go. These dudes suck anyway," Itachi said with a final glare at the silver-haired guitarist onstage.

* * *

"I told you, it's not _my _fault!"

"Bullshit! _You_ had to get your ass _grounded_, _one fucking day _before the big contest. But of course, it was entirely Itachi's fault. Or Hidan's. Last time I checked, Itachi was the one that got us where we are in the _first _place!"

Itachi rubbed his temples. _Just_ their fucking luck. The big annual Battle of the Bands-contest tomorrow was their one big chance of success, maybe even a record deal. And now they had no bass player.

Excellent. _Fan-fucking-tastic._

"You know what? Fuck you," Kisame snapped. "We don't need you. You can run home, lock yourself in your room and laugh about how you ruined the big chance of success of your best friends- excuse me, _former_ best friends. You're out."

If looks could kill, Kisame had been a fried fish stick by now. Deidara picked up his bass, whirled around and slammed the door shut. Silence lingered for a second, until...

"...FUCK!"

Hidan threw the first thing in reach (his glass of Pepsi) at the door Deidara just disappeared behind. The glass shards scattered all over the floor, and Hidan went to go clean it up. Itachi just looked down, seething. _Months _of gigs. Countless hours of practice. two forty-eight hour jamming marathons. All gone to waste.

"...Gentlemen, we are _royally _fucked," Kisame stated.

"No shit, Sherlock," Hidan said upon returning. "Where the fuck are we going to get a fucking bass player in less than twenty-fucking-four hours? Why the fuck does this have to happen _now_, of _all fucking times_?"

An idea hit Itachi. "...Maybe I know a place where to get a bass player. We're not going to like it, but let's check school. _Somebody_'s gotta have a bass and know how to play it."

* * *

Kisame was arguing with some dude in the music room. Hidan was putting up flyers all around school grounds. Itachi just finished up asking around on the school sports area. He had found four bass players, but none were good enough. He was losing hope, time was running out, their chance was slipping through their grasp-

"Well, well. If it isn't 'mr. Rock Star' Uchiha. What a pleasant surprise."

Itachi whirled around to see the owner of the voice, the confidently smirking Inuzuka Hana. He rolled his eyes. "What do you want? If you're looking for a date, tough luck. I told you before, I'm not interested."

She flipped him off and said "Tch, so rude. Don't jump to conclusions, Uchiha. I heard you're looking for a bass player. What happened to Dei-dei?"

Itachi looked away. "None of your business."

"Did he ditch out again?"

He sighed in defeat. "Pretty much."

Silence fell between them for a second. She then looked up at the sky casually. "I see. I'll do it."

* * *

**A/N Dun dun duuuun! Itachi has found his bass player! I really didn't like writing Dei-Dei out of it, but meh. Plot twists have to happen at some point. Next up will be the big concert, and another big problem for the band. **

**Oh, and Erika, I cut it off here intentionally. Next chapter will be more ItaHana-y. Or implied ItaHana, anyway. He won't be making out with her.**

**Rock on!  
~LazyNinja**


	9. Chapter 9: Heavy Metal Thunder

**A/N Songs:  
****Run to the Hills - Iron Maiden  
Breaking the Law - Judas Priest  
****Orion - Metallica**

**Still don't own.**

* * *

_Flashback:_

_What happened to Dei-Dei?"_

_Itachi looked away. "None of your business."_

_"Did he ditch out again?"_

_He sighed in defeat. "Pretty much."_

_Silence fell between them for a second. She then looked up at the sky casually. "I see. I'll do it."_

* * *

Itachi looked at her, dumbfounded. "...Come again?"

She giggled at his expression. Itachi blocked away the realization how extremely cute she was and focused on her words again. "I said I'll do it. I'll be your bass player."

"Since when do you play bass?"

"Since the day you became an idiot." She smiled sweetly at his glare. "No, seriously. I've been playing since the day I turned 8. My little brother keeps nagging me to teach him."

He looked at her suspiciously. "This had better not be another of your tricks to score a date with me."

"Oh please. _Everyone_ knows you're gay." She smiled off his glare again. "No, I'd rather call this 'Helping out a friend'. Sounds a lot better. When's practice?"

If Itachi wasn't Itachi, he'd jump from joy and hug Hana to death. But seeing as how that would ruin his cool guy image, he decided on a confident smirk. "Right fucking now, actually. Battle of the Bands-contest tomorrow, little time, you know the drill. Hold on, I'll call the guys."

Itachi nervously paced up and down. The more he thought about it, the more stupid this sounded. Three guys and a girl, not even playing together for a day, and yet they're here in the preliminaries of a big business contest. Reason told him that this was doomed to fail (because let's face it, a day is not enough by a _long_ shot to adjust to a line-up change), but strangely, the determination he saw in Hana's eyes told him that things were going to be fine.

But still. Hana and Kisame were on such good terms (note the sarcasm) that they just might kill each other when given the chance. Hidan...

Well, he was Hidan.

Enough said.

Dude _finally _realized that 'Orion' with just one guitar sounded about as good as a horse shitting from its mouth, and talked his parents into buying him an ESP Super V. He had been learning how to play the song since, not stopping for unimportant things like food or sleep. Even now, he was rehearsing and rehearsing and rehearsing.

Kisame nervously twirled his sticks around, muttering prayers to Dio (seriously. Given, Dio was a vocalist of legendary status, but _praying _to him? _What the hell_?). Itachi was rolling his solos again just in case, and still kept pacing up and down. The only one that seemed perfectly fine was Hana.

The announcer dude made an end to their hell by saying "Next up is a young band that gained some local fame because of their awesome 'Run to the Hills' cover they did on their first gig and 'Breaking the Law' on their third. Ladies and Gentlemen, give it up for Akatsuki!"

Itachi feigned confidence as he walked up onstage throwing up 'the horns', as Hidan ripped the mic from the announcer's hands.

"What up, peoples. First of all, you mispronounced our name. It's 'A-_ka-_ts'ki', not 'A-ka-_tsu-_ki'. Second, get ready to get your asses rocked all over the place. Here's 'Orion', originally by Metallica. Hit it, dudes."

Hana played the well-known bass intro, and Kisame soon fell in. Hidan readied his guitar, and Itachi just closed his eyes in an attempt to lose himself in the music again. After Kisame's drum fill rang through the air, his eyes snapped open and he hammered down the chords on his guitar. As soon as his pick hit the strings, he felt that it somehow was all good. The sound they produced was rocking.

Itachi looked to his right, and saw to his relief that all of Hidan's hard work had paid off. He was playing flawless. Same went for Kisame and, to Itachi's surprise and relief, so did Hana. He also noticed something else about her, something that would severely distract him from his riffs and solos.

She looked _beautiful_ in the stage lights when playing.

Itachi couldn't help but steal looks every now and then. He caught her sneaking a peek too, and they caught each other's eyes during Itachi's second solo that flowed into her bass solo.

He didn't know much about Inuzuka Hana, but he knew three things.

One, she could _shred_. The bass solo she played was _flawless_, all in less than a day. She was a genius, and a big one at that.

Two: she looked more stunning than he ever gave her credit for. He was now mentally strangling himself for not noticing her before. Everything about her looked just perfect. From the way her brown hair danced around her face when she headbanged to the song to her graceful yet aggressive playing style.

Three: he loved jamming with her. She complemented him perfectly, while still taking her own glory by still being audible with solos and her overall stage person.

The song soon ended, and the crowd went wild. The judges were blown away. Hidan was pumping up the crowd by jumping around like an idiot, Kisame was lying on the ground exhausted, Hana raised 'the horns' and couldn't help but smirk. Itachi just couldn't believe they pulled it off.

__

They did it.

Akatsuki was alive.

One of the judges spoke up. "Gentlemen, lady. I really loved your performance. Outstanding. It's been a very long time since a band played this well. How long have you been together?"

Hidan wanted to answer, but Kisame snatched the mic from him. "Well, you see...We have been together for less than a day."

* * *

Everyone fell silent.

__

Less than a day?

"...Wow. That's...unusual."

"Cut the crap, Hiruzen," the second judge said. "How the hell did you get to sound so good?"

Itachi took the mic from Kisame. "Actually, we've been jamming for a year, and Akatsuki was formed ten months ago. We only had a new bass player since yesterday. But me and the rest of the guys have been jamming before."

"It's still an amazing feat to get that smooth band feeling when only practicing for such a short amount of time with a new member. You definetely pass this round."

"Agreed. Splendid performance," the dude apparently named Hiruzen added.

"I really hope I'm going to be your guide during the finals. Might as well call us the winners already then. Awesome."

Hidan couldn't resist the temptation to stage-dive any more, and under loud chanting of the rabid crowd he jumped off stage into the front row. Kisame laughed his ass off, Hana giggled like a little girl and Itachi shook his head smirking.

Dude could be _so _childish sometimes.

* * *

"Hana!"

Said girl turned around. "Hey, guys."

"Where are you going?" Itachi asked slightly panting. Hidan held himself up against a wall, and Kisame came skidding around the corner just now. Hana sighed sadly.

"look, guys, I really had a blast jamming with you guys, but I can hear and see that you're true metalheads. Metal...is just not my kind of music. I can stand some Judas Priest, but that's about it. Metallica and Slayer and stuff...No thanks. So I'm not really fit to be your new bass player."

The guys looked at her dumbfounded. She felt even worse now.

"Look, yesterday was great, but I don't think I can keep up with more of similar musical violence. I'd rahter go somewhere alt or punk."

"...Dude, you _gotta _be kidding me."

She looked away. "Sorry, Kisame. I'm dead serious. I really dislike your music. It's too much for me."

Hidan groaned and Kisame banged his head against the wall closest to him. Itachi restrained himself from doing the same and closed his eyes. "Dudes, if she wants to go, then so be it. Life's a bitch sometimes, but isn't part of being a metalhead making your own choices and creating your own paths? I say we should respect others who do so, too."

Hana smiled sadly. "Thanks, Itachi." She grabbed a pen and took his hand. She wrote down a number on it, and her smile transformed into a confident smirk. "All of you, good luck chasing your dreams don and becoming rock stars. Itachi..." she turned to him, "Call me when you get there."

She winked at him, turned around and walked away. The three boys watched their savior and newfound friend walk away. They remained silent even after she had long since disappeared out of sight. Then, Itachi froze.

With Hana, their hopes of winning the contest had also walked away. He turned to Hidan and Kisame panicked.

"Guys! What are we going to do about the competition!?"

Hidan paled. "Shit, I forgot! Now we're bass-less again! Fuck!"

They frantically paced around for a few seconds, when an all too familiar voice rang in their ears.

"I knew it. You wouldn't last two days without me. I'm way too important."

The guys turned to the direction the voice had come from, and were met by a cockily smirking Deidara casually leaning against a wall. His bag with his bass was leaning against his legs, and his arms were crossed.

"What's up?"

* * *

**A/N Dei-Dei's back! Don't worry, he will get beaten up. First thing next chapter. Furthermore, I have NO IDEA what's coming up. Or I'm just too lazy to type it up here. XD**

**Rock on!  
~LazyNinja**


	10. Chapter 10: Back in the Village

****

A/N Songs:

**Angel of Death - Slayer  
****In the Name of Tragedy - Motörhead**

_

* * *

_

Recap:

_"I knew it. You wouldn't last two days without me. I'm way too important."_

_The guys turned to the direction the voice had come from, and were met by a cockily smirking Deidara casually leaning against a wall. His bag with his bass was leaning against his legs, and his arms were crossed._

_"What's up?"_

* * *

Hidan walked over to the blond bass player, and punched him in the face _hard_. Deidara lost his balance and hit the deck, and Hidan smirked. "Welcome back, dipshit."

Kisame walked over to Deidara and kicked him in the gut smirking. "Never thought I'd ever be happy to see you again."

Itachi offered his hand to a painfully wincing Deidara, and said bassist gladly took it. Itachi smirked, and shoved Deidara head first into the wall saying "I knew you'd be back at some point. Good you're here."

Deidara got up with great effort, and had to hold himself up at the very wall he just got thrown into. He held his stomach with his other hand. He closed his eyes and smirked. "I guess I deserved those. Now that the most important thing is over with, who was that chick?"

Kisame shrugged. "Our new bass player, and Itachi's girlfriend."

Itachi shot the drummer a glare. "She's not my girlfriend, idiot. She's...just a friend."

"Sure she is. Whatever floats your boat. I still say you're in denial."

Itachi punched Kisame, and Hidan just cracked up. Deidara shook his head muttering 'bunch of childish idiots you are'. Hidan heard this and swung his arm around Deidara's shoulders in an overly dramatic way saying "Don't forget that you're a part of that bunch of childish idiots, my friend."

Deidara shrugged Hidan's arm off his shoulders and grabbed his guitar bag. "Whatever. What are we playing next time?"

Itachi looked at his friends. What _are _they playing next time?

"Definetely some Slayer" Hidan said, but Kisame punched him. Dude was getting addicted to that band.

Not that Slayer's bad music, not at all, but Hidan was just being annoying. And Itachi kind of felt like making him suffer. Slayer _is _very fast and technical riffing after, all. Since Hidan was a rookie on guitar, 'Angel of Death' might suit them _just_ fine.

"Hey, um, dudes? Itachi's doing the weird smirking thing again..."

* * *

Hidan flopped down on the ground, heavily panting and arms aching. Why did he have to go pick a Slayer song? How could a normal human being (that is, as far as you could call Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman 'human'. They were more like gods) have created these riffs?

"This...shit...is...impossible...to play." He panted. Deidara threw a water bottle at him and Itachi smirked.

"Aw, are Hidan-chan's wittle awms huwting?" Itachi said in a baby voice. "You were the one to call Slayer, idiot. Now play."

Hidan glared at his bandmates, but got up nonetheless. Kisame counted down, Deidara soloed on his bass for a bit, until Itachi hammered down the first chord and started the break-neck fast riff. Hidan tried, but after a minute his pick slipped through his fingers and his arms stopped moving. Itachi smirked, Kisame chuckled and muttered 'dumbass' and Deidara remained silent.

"...Fucking hell..." Hidan looked at Itachi. "How the fuck do you ever keep that up?"

Itachi shrugged. "Practice, I guess." He cleared his throat. "Dudes, since Hidan obviously fails, I say we try another song. Any suggestions or preferences?"

"I do not fail!"

"Shut up, failtard" Kisame snickered. He then turned to Itachi. "I think some Motörhead would do us all good. And it would also show that Hidan actually can sing, both clean and harsh vocal style."

"You mean I won't have to play guitar."

"That, too."

"Dudes, seriously" Deidara mediated. "We're still in a contest together, remember? Stop your troublesome bitching. Motörhead sounds good. Now let's go, we only have...five days left."

"...Fuck it, let's take this day off" Hidan said. The rest agreed and dropped their instruments. Part of being a rock star is ditching practice, anyway.

* * *

Eventually, the young metalheads had decided on 'In the Name of Tragedy' by Motörhead, and were now throwing down the last notes. Hidan somehow managed to get a rather close imitation of Lemmy's vocal style, much to the others' surprise and his own pleasure.

Itachi finished his solo and dropped his instrument in its stand, grabbing a bottle of water. Kisame dropped his drum sticks, and looked ready to rip the bottle from Itachi's hands. After a few minutes, they got ready to play again, when a voice sounded from the doorway.

"Well well. What a small world we live in."

Kisame glared in the direction of the voice, where the blue-haired Konan girl from their school casually leaned against one of the many spare amps in the room. She happily returned the drummer's glare, and smiled sweetly at the rest of the boys.

"I saw your performance with Hana the other day. You were great. Even you, Hoshigaki." She briefly glared at said drummer, and turned back to the rest. "My performance is tonight."

The guys' jaws dropped.

"You're in the run too!? What's the name of your band?"

She shrugged. "Oh, they're not that big. Blackout asked me to fill in for their singer. She suddenly got ill.I think they wanna keep me, though. They say I'm way better than Tayuya."

"You're here with ­_Blackout_!?" Kisame yelled unbelievingly. "No fucking way! Those guys are awesome! Whose cock did you suck to get the spot!?"

Konan slapped Kisame across the face, seething. "I did not suck _anyone_'s dick, you asshole. As much as you want me to suck yours. But I'd rather not. If I think about all the asses that thing of yours has been in..."

Itachi, Hidan and Deidara couldn't help but laugh. Kisame was obviously less amused. Konan smirked triumphantly and turned around. "See you around, fellas. I'll keep you in mind if we need some roadies."

Silence. Utter silence. The guys stared at the doorway their blue-headed rival just disappeared through. Kisame was the first to regain his ability to speak.

"...That's it. She's dead."

-----

Akatsuki showed up at Blackout's performance nonetheless (Kisame asked if he could bring a shotgun to shoot at Konan), and had mixed feelings. They were psyched to see them play, but they also know they had found a worthy opponent. Once Blackout took the stage, they were blown away.

The guitarists (two light-haired twin brothers) were shredding a highly technical riff that could match Slayer's speed, only to slow it down bit by bit until it sounded angsty and almost poetic. The keyboardist sounded like he had a complete orchestra in that thing of his and the drummer looked and sounded like he had an extra two pairs of arms to hit all those cymbal crashes and solos.

Not to mention Konan. Even Kisame had to admit she looked stunning, wearing the long satin frilly dress and black rose in her hair. Deidara and Hidan were drooling, and Itachi's mind was fighting a civil war inside his head. He had been _sure _that Hana had him spellbound, but now the angry mob of Konan supporters was starting a revolution again.

"-harder, dude. I'm _not _gonna lose to some chick."

Itachi shook his head. "Hn? Wha?"

Kisame narrowed his eyes. "Dudes, _why _is Itachi staring at a girl for the _second _time in three days?"

Itachi rolled his eyes and punched Kisame. "Shut up, and let's go. We have to practice. Let's beat that bitch."

* * *

Itachi overlooked the crowd. He saw a bunch of chicks from school, all screaming like fangirls. He saw a few dudes from the football team, looking ready to throw something at his head for taking away all the attention they were getting from aforementioned chicks. He saw his little brother, wearing an Akatsuki shirt (where the hell he got that will remain unknown). He saw their rival band, smirking confidently. He nodded to Deidara, and they started the infamous riff. Hidan pumped up the crowd for a bit, before he started singing with his freakishly good imitation of Lemmy's voice.

_Were you ever lost, were you ever young,  
were you ever safe little brother?  
Do you see the sense of the evidence,  
are you still part of the struggle?  
Did you bang your head, did you go to bed,  
does it still feel pretty funky?  
Lay back and dream in the death machine,  
pity you still think like a monkey_

**Go! **_Bring it up, bring it down til you hit the ground,  
_**Now!**_Get a rude attitude, turn the world around,  
_**Hey! **_Shall we see, shall we disagree,  
Sing it __**all!**__ In the Name of Tragedy!_

_Did you ever lie, ever wonder why  
nobody believed you honey?  
What a pretty smile, drive the people wild,  
wonder who ran off with the money  
Do you ever change, is it gonna rain,  
will it bring you pennies from heaven?  
Do you know the score, are you waiting for,  
anxious for the new Armageddon_

**Go! **_Live it up, live it down til we hit the ground,  
_**Now! **_Cop a rude attitude from the world around,  
_**Hey! **_Shall we see, shall we disagree,  
Sing it __**all!**__ In the Name of Tragedy!_

Hidan's voice went from deep grunting-ish to a high-pitched vocal scream as he yelled "Rock on!" at the crowd, signaling the start of Itachi's solo. The Uchiha pulled off another flawless performance, and when he looked at the crowd near the end he saw some of the fangirly chicks faint (seriously, how much more cliche can you get?). He smirked and let his guitar screech for a bit before falling back in the original riffing.

_Marbles in your mouth, what's it all about,  
do you know the name of the winner?  
If I was to go, would you let it show,  
life is not a TV dinner  
If you dream of me, will you ever see,  
do you want a piece of the action?  
If I wasn't sure would you do it more,  
help me to achieve an erection_

**Go! **_Get it up, get it down til you hit the ground,  
_**Now! **_Get a rude attitude, turn the world around,  
_**Hey! **_Shall we see, shall we disagree,  
__**All!**__ In The Name of Tragedy!_

**Go! **_Sing it loud, sing it out, make the people shout,  
_**Now! **_Get it all, get it on, get it sorted out,  
_**Hey! **_Be a seer, be sincere, can you really see,  
__**All!**__ In The Name of Tragedy!_

* * *

"..."

"..."

The judges were silent. While the audience was going through the roof, they were dumbfounded. These kids...With the girl, they had already been splendid. But with the blonde bassist (supposedly the original bassist, too)...

There just seemed no stopping them.

"...Holy shit," one of the judges (the guys had learned his name was Harashima) finally said. "Just...Holy shit. A-fucking-mazing."

"Watch your mouth, Harashima!" Hiruzen said sternly before turning to the boys on stage. "...But I think that about sums it up. You were epic. I can see a big difference with last week. The bass player you're having now...He's the one who was originally part of the line-up, right?" Deidara nodded and Hiruzen smirked. "Thought as much. Well done."

"Like I said, a-fucking-mazing," Harashima cut in. "I _really _hope you're gonna be put under my supervision. Hiruzen's been getting the best bands for a few years now."

The judges passed them on to the next round with perfect scores. The only other band who managed that was, of course, Blackout.

Hidan high-fived Deidara and stage-dived together, pulling a laughing Itachi along as well.

* * *

Finals.

Itachi didn't like finals.

They usually were the end of a great adventure. And an adventure, that's what this contest has been for the boys of Akatsuki. They found new friends (the drummer of one of the bands they beat in the semi-finals offered to become their manager, should they make it all the way), enemies (things between Blackout and them got worse. Like having-to-travel-with-bodyguards -because-a-member-of-one-band-just-might-kill-a-rivaling-band-member bad) and learned many things they would have never guessed (like who would dare to think that Deidara could actually sing? And Kisame actually acting his age for once? Yeah, things they would never dare to think of).

Itachi paced up and down the rehearsal room, eyed by his band members, his friends, his brothers. "Gentlemen, this is it. Make or break. Victory or defeat. Death or glory. Fame or fail-"

"Dude, cut it out," Kisame butted in. "You're not me. Only I can give awesome poetic pep talks. Just stick to your style, though I can see that you would want to be me."

"And have blue skin too?" Hidan teased. Kisame feigned a hurt expression.

"Ouch. Dagger to the heart."

"Dudes, would you stop it?" Deidara said annoyed. "Seriously. We're up in five minutes, and I'm trying to focus here."

"Yeah, right, sorry."

Itachi shook his head and Deidara rolled his eyes. Some people just never grow up.

"Like I was saying..." Itachi continued, "We've been through much together. We survived where other people would've given up. All I'm asking now is for us to blow the _fuck _out of everyone's minds out there. Are you with me?" Deidara, Hidan and Kisame smirked and yelled "Hell yeah!" in unison. Itachi smirked, too. "Then let's go and write history, my friends."

* * *

**Alright, sorry this took so long to put up. It just did _not _flow the way I wanted it to. I'm still not entirely happy with it. Also, my dad is being extremely dorky lately (like stealing my laptop from me for no valid reason), so that didn't help either. -glare- But whatever, I didn't want any angry mobs that set fire to my computer and all, so here it is. **

**Next up: Make or break. Akatsuki winning the contest?**

**Rock on!  
~LazyNinja**


	11. Chapter 11: For Whom the Bell Tolls

**A/N Songs:  
One - Metallica  
Still Beats Your Name - Killswitch Engage  
Kirisute Gomen - Trivium**

* * *

The band got up, grabbed their instruments and ran up the stage. They were welcomed by bright flashing lights, flames that shot up in the air ten feet high, and a crowd of about two thousand screaming people. Hidan ripped the mic from its stand and greeted the crowd.

"What's up, peoples! We are Akatsuki, and we are going to rock you out of your chairs tonight. We will be performing a song that we can all agree on is the best song _ever _created. Dudes and chicks out there, here's 'One' by Metallica."

The lights went out, and a sample of war sounds was played. With each explosion, fireworks were blasted. Itachi, Deidara and Hidan hung their heads, picking the first notes of the infamous intro with eyes closed. Itachi could feel the sensation in his fingers when he played the short intro solo. He fell back in the original riffing and Hidan started to sing.

_I can't remember anything  
__Can't tell if this is true or dream  
__Deep down inside I feel the scream  
__This terrible silence stops me!  
__Now that the war is through with me  
__I'm waking up I cannot see  
__That there's not much left of me  
__Nothing is real but pain now!_

_Hold my breath as I wish for death  
__Oh please, God, wake me!_

_Back in the womb, it's much too real  
__In pumps life that I must feel  
__But can't look forward to reveal  
__Look to the time when I lived!  
Fed through the tube that sticks in me  
__Just like a war time novelty  
__Tied to machines that make me be,  
__Cut this life off from me!_

_Hold my breath as I wish for death  
__Oh please, God, wake me!_

Itachi looked at a smirking Hidan, and smirked back. He freestyled a few notes before playing the original solo, still at the slow and harmonic tempo. Kisame banged out a small drum solo before Hidan walked back up to the mic, distorting his guitar again.

_Now the world is gone, I'm just One  
__Oh God, help me!_

_Hold my breath as I wish for death  
Oh please, God, help me!_

The riffing changed, the drumming sped up a bit, and the crowd headbanged along to the boys on stage. Hidan and Itachi let their guitars ring for a few seconds when their instrumental bridge was through, exchanged looks and hammered down the infamous machine gun riffs, accompanied by shooting flames and explosions.

_Darkness!  
__Imprisoning me! All that I see,  
__Absolute horror  
__I cannot live, I cannot die  
__Tied to myself  
__Body my holding cell!_

_Landmine!  
__Has taken my sight, taken my speech  
__Taken my hearing  
Taken my arms, taken my legs  
Taken my soul  
Left me with life in Hell!_

Itachi was about to shred the solos, when a lot of things happened. Deidara's bass went dead, and was inaudible over the guitar violence. Hidan, distracted by this, lost track of the riffing and missed his chords causing his guitar to screech the wrong way. Itachi and Kisame tried to save the day, but the solo sounded bad without rhythm guitar and Kisame's drum fills didn't help much either.

Seeing how it was hopeless, they sighed in defeat and dropped their instruments. If Itachi wasn't Itachi, he could've cried. So much for winning the contest.

* * *

Itachi didn't watch Blackout's winning performance, and went straight for home. They had it. They were _so close_...

"Hey."

He jumped at the sound of the voice, but relaxed as soon as he saw it was Hana. And then he remembered that Hana had left for... somewhere a few weeks ago.

"What are you doing back here?"

She shrugged. "Nothing much. Traveled around a bit. Started a band. Now getting close to actually sounding a bit like a band. Went to check out the finals some of my friends were playing in. And now I'm here."

"...Yeah."

She sat down next to him. "So now what?" He didn't respond. She looked disappointed. "Itachi..."

"...Hn."

She realized he was close to crying. After all, this had been his big chance of success. She smiled sadly and hugged him. He instinctively wanted to pull away, but decided against it and let her. When she let him go, she smiled. "Cheer up, okay? You're a lot less handsome when you're looking all gloomy." He smirked.

They looked at the sky together for a while, when Itachi said "I wonder what my mom would be thinking right now, you know? What she would say or do in my situation."

"She'd be proud."

"How do you know?" he asked, genuinely interested. She shrugged again.

"I would be. That's how."

"You and her are two different people."

"True. But we both care for you."

"..."

She smiled sweetly. "Well, about time we got going."

"Go where?" he asked while standing up.

"Kill Konan, then Deidara for raping his bass like that. And then..."

"Wherever the fuck life takes us," Itachi finished her sentence. She nodded. He smirked. "Sounds good. But don't kill Deidara. He may be an idiot and a lazy shit, but he's still one of my best friends. And it wasn't his fault. It was the equipment. I think someone messed with it."

She yawned and rubbed the back of her head. "No, it was checked two seconds before you guys started."

"How do you know?"

"I checked it. Now let's go, your folks are waiting for you."

Itachi trusted Hana that she didn't mess with the amps herself, and got up. He wasn't looking forward to talking to people after such an embarrassing defeat, but qouting his dad, 'shit had to be dealt with sometimes'.

* * *

Kisame was practicing a bit with Hidan on guitar, when Itachi burst in their new practice room (Basically Kisame's garage, with a few adjustments in the form of amps and extra isolation) happier than he had been since he heard about Annihilation. "Dudes! Dudes!"

"Yo, what up? What are you all cheerful about?" Kisame asked, dropping his beat and taking a sip from his drink. Hidan was too busy practicing the 'Nothing Else Matters' solo to pay attention, so Kisame threw his drum sticks at him. "Pay attention, dumbass."

"What's all the fuss about?" Deidara asked, returning from the toilet. "What up, Itachi?"

Itachi smirked cockily. "Gentlemen, You owe me big time. I talked my dad into paying the bill for recording an album."

"You WHAT!?"

"...Holy _shit._"

Itachi's smirk broadened. "That's right. Let's get writing, like right the fuck now. We got an album to fill."

"Finally!" Hidan yelled. "I actually got a head start some time ago, and got a few pieces of songs done already. I want you fellas to take a look at it. I personally think it sucks, though."

"Whoa, you were anxious to start," Kisame said smirking. "And over-confident, too, thinking we would easily win the contest."

"Shut up, dude," Hidan muttered as he searched his guitar bag and pulled out a note pad. He tossed it to Itachi, who read it out loud.

_Who knows how long, I've been lost in the dark  
Followed closely by the footsteps of my failures  
What can I do, to alter my perception,  
of the way and the truth?_

Let this burden drift away

Who knows how long, the void has swallowed me  
I only wish for nothing more than peace to find me  
How can this be? We've come so far  
to let the weight destroy our grand design

Hidan grinned cockily, while the rest was awed. Hidan tried to hide the triumphant tone in his voice when he asked "Well, what do you guys think?"

"...Dude, I thought you didn't even know what 'perception' meant. This shit is awesome," Kisame said. Deidara nodded.

"True. You gotta go on writing this one. It's gonna be the first track on our new album."

"We'll see about the track listing later," Itachi said. "For now, let's get to work. We've got an album to fill."

Hidan ruffled in his bag again. "Wait, I've got more. Here."

_I can see in their eyes  
they've already died  
inside, but as for the outside  
I'll take their fucking heads_

Quake has bred with the storm  
conceiving war  
wicked stampeding hordes  
kirisute gomen

"...What's 'Kirisute gomen' mean?" Kisame asked. Hidan rolled his eyes, but Itachi shot him a glare.

"It means 'sorry for what I'm going to do'. It's something the samurai used to say before striking down their opponent."

Kisame gave Itachi a weird look that probably meant 'how-the-hell-do-you-know-that'. Itachi just smirked. "Again, finish it and see if you can get more ideas. We need everything we can get. Also, all of you, see if you can come up with some crazy riffs, bass loops, beats, whatever. Just get to work, and we may be able to get this thing wrapped up before Christmas."

Kisame sighed smirking. "That's Itachi for you...Always playing the leader."

Itachi shot him a glare, and the rest laughed. Itachi smirked as he retorted with "of course. I'm the smartest guy around. I'm the only one fit to be the leader."

"...Kisame: 1, Itachi: 2. Ouch."

Laughter echoed through the room for a while, before the boys split up to each work in silence and peace on what Hidan called 'an album so good, the world will start spinning the other way around'.

* * *

**A/N This was a hell to write. And that's all I have to say. **


	12. Chapter 12: Dr Feelgood

**A/N Songs:  
****All Hope is Gone - Slipknot  
****Kissing the Shadows - Children of Bodom  
****What's My Age Again? - Blink-182  
****In Your Face - Children of Bodom  
****Pretty Fly - The Offspring**

* * *

Itachi was fighting with a few riffs, trying to find out what missed in each of them and ultimately create the best of all three in one main riff. That was easier said than done, of course. He asked Deidara for help, and finally concluded on the second riff with a few adjustments Deidara put in. Itachi was busy mastering it and teaching it to Hidan when Kisame walked in.

"Fellas, I got another piece of lyrics done. I want you guys to have a look at it."

Itachi took the notebook Kisame held out for him, and read the two verses out loud.

_If you want you cannot take it from me  
If you think you can, you still don't know me  
Let me tell you man, I said it, I meant it  
And I will always have the right to defend it_

_50 seconds, 100 murders  
The Bill Of Rights is a bill of sale  
What will you do when the war is over?  
What will you do when you system fails?_

Hidan nodded. "That might fit with this riff we just made up..." But Kisame shook his head.

"No, that riff you just played sounds more like 'Kissing the Shadows', if you ask me. This shit needs to blast everyone off their feet. I know KtS does that, but... I dunno. It just doesn't feel right."

"I say we just try it out. Hidan, go get Deidara. First full-band test of our material."

Hidan did as he was told, and the boys played the same song twice in a row with the respective lyrics. Kisame turned out to be right, and Itachi played his other two riffs again to see if anything fitted Kisame's new song. He tried to make it sound more interesting, but Kisame frowned.

"...I don't know, dude. It misses something. But I can't pinpoint what."

"Tch, how about a one way ticket to the trash can," a voice said from the doorway. Konan walked in the room smirking cockily. She turned to Deidara. "Oh, and Dei-dei? Great work there last week. I loved your performance." She noticed the notebooks with half-finished songs and smirked. "Working on an album, ne? Whose cock did you suck to get the money for that?"

She walked around the room, inspecting the boys' equipment. "Hm, what a pitiful bunch of junk. I'm sorry, but Itachi, you definetely deserve something better. Something more like Sakon and Ukon's gear."

Itachi shot her a death glare. "Fuck off, Konan. We know you won."

Konan feigned a hurt expression. "How rude. I thought you were a real gentleman, Itachi. You disappoint me."

Itachi let out a humorless laugh. "Gentleman? Are you _serious_? Gentleman, my ass. I'm a Metalhead." He returned Kisame's triumphant smirk before turning back to the blue-haired Gothic rocker. "So I'm going to say this nicely one more time. _Fuck. Off._"

She glared at him and shook her head. "Tsk, tsk. Bad boy, Itachi. What if mommy heard it?"

Itachi's vision went crimson as he vaguely recalled slamming the girl in the nearest wall, holding her by her throat.

"That's it. You crossed the line, bitch," he snarled, and Konan looked terrified. Itachi tightened his grip on her throat as he pulled her away from the wall, throwing her across the room.

She scrambled up, shot Itachi one last death glare and said "This isn't over, Uchiha." Itachi just rolled his eyes and strode off through the other door of the garage, leaving a stupified Kisame, Hidan and Deidara in his wake.

* * *

Hana walked through the mall, humming a random tune happily as she looked for the guitar centre. She picked up the bass she had ordered and had it gift wrapped. Her little brother was going to love this thing. She called her mom to come pick it up, and tried out a few new instruments herself before she left. She scored a Starbucks and left, her MP3 player assaulting her ear drums with Blink-182's 'What's My Age Again?'.

A few moments later, a familiar figure caught her eye. She rolled her eyes smirking and walked over to the apparently troubled boy. "Itachi Uchiha...Why is it that I always meet you in these emotionally unstable states?" She sat down next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "What is it this time?"

He sighed. "...Hana, you're acting like some kind of shrink." She punched him, and he smirked. "Fine. It's Konan."

"Again? What did she do _this_ time?"

Itachi glared at the ground. "She crossed the line. Started talking shit about my mom. I lost it, attacked her, and now she's sending her boyfriends on my ass. I really feel like having my dad deal with it, but he's already done so much for us lately."

"As in?"

"As in paying the bill for our first album."

She looked at him, awed. "...Dude, that's awesome! You can show Konan what _real _metal can do!"

Itachi shot her a weird look. "What do _you _know of 'real' metal? No offense, but...well, you're a punk."

"Excuse me?" She poked his chest. "I used to be a fan of Judas Priest, mister! I know how much bands like Metallica and Slayer meant for modern metal! I'll be the first to admit that all of this wouldn't be possible if not for the folks of Black Sabbath. I'm not some poser, unlike _some_ people we know."

Itachi kept looking at her. "Then why convert to punk?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. All the anger in the music annoys me. Music should be...well, happy, carefree. It's supposed to make me feel better, not worse."

Itachi snorted. "Whatever. But you did give me an idea. I was thinking something along the lines of '_the truth feels like a bitch-slap in your face_'. I think I can make a song out of that." He smirked at her. "Honestly, what would I do without you?"

"Probably end up in jail for verbal and physical assault, and possibly attempted murder." She got up and grabbed her brother's present. "Well, about time I got going. My mom is probably already seething that I'm late for dinner. I don't want to get grounded. See ya later, Itachi. Call me if you need another therapy session."

He smirked. "Will do. Peace."

And with that, the two friends parted ways again, Itachi happy because he had another source of inspiration, and Hana happy because she got to help out her friend in need again. Really, what _would_ the bloke do without her? She smirked at the thought, pressed 'play' on her MP3 player again and started to sing along to 'Pretty Fly' by the Offspring while dance-walking home.

* * *

**A/N I feel like it took me ages to get this done. I really don't know what's the problem lately, but my writing is slipping. I'm always busy doing other stuff, and I'm fucking sick and tired of it. But at least I know where I want it to go, unlike last time.**

**Anyway.**

**Next up: Recording time. And more good news for the band.**

**Peace.**


	13. Chapter 13: Breaking the Law

**A/N Yes, this story is still alive. Somehow. Anyways, songs in order:  
****In Your Face – Children of Bodom  
****Kirisute Gomen – Trivium  
****Take This Life – In Flames  
****Ascendancy – Trivium**

**Again, I don't own any of those. Or Naruto, for that matter.**

* * *

The guys were playing their hearts out in the studio. Hidan and Deidara were headbanging like crazy while hammering down notes on their instruments, Itachi was on his knees shredding an insane solo and Kisame wrapped up the package with a steady, fast and pounding beat.

Akatsuki were recording their first official album.

And so far, nothing had turned out anything like what they had expected. The studio was bigger, the equipment better, the people cooler, and the feeling more overwhelming. Deidara had been in a state of pure bliss when he saw the mixing board and all the other technical stuff ("Hn, the no-life," Kisame had remarked). He had spent his time off tech-talking to the sound dudes and asking their ears off their heads.

Hidan and Kisame had claimed the PS2 in the lounge as their own, and were found there when not actually in the studio. They wasted their time playing Killzone (Kisame had to give in to his shooter addiction), Guitar Hero (quoting Hidan: "It's kind of lame pretending to rock out on a plastic guitar, but what the hell, it's fun") and Grand Theft Auto.

Itachi finished his solo, and jumped up while falling in sync with Hidan and playing the original riffing. Kisame played a small drum solo before switching to a faster beat. Hidan, barely audible over all the musical violence, pulled a mic close and strained his voice as he sang the last part of the lyrics.

The lyrics they all had ended up writing together. The lyrics that wouldn't even exist if not for Itachi.

_When you look at me, what do you see?  
Another trophy, a living fucking dead beat  
Close your eyes, take a step with me  
You're gone there's no time to waste! __  
Its my world, you're in it  
It'll take you down in a minute! _

_Insanity and abnormality  
Careful what you call reality  
What you will always want,  
It was the day you should die!_

_i don't give a flying fuck motherfucker!  
I don't give a flying fuck motherfucker!  
I don't give a flying,  
I don't give a flying,  
I don't give a flying FUCK!_

**INCOMING!**

_Say one, more word  
I double dare you,_ **Bring it on!**

_You can alter your look  
And diversify your image  
But the truth seems like  
A bitch slap in your face!_

**INCOMING! **

The four boys didn't move an inch, and remained silent as the smirks on their faces grew bigger. The sound technicians were blown away. Four kids, no older than 16, had just produced one of the most insane sounding songs ever. Though it may not be exactly what you would call 'mainstream'.

But who knew?

Maybe these boys could be the revolution the music world needed.

Meanwhile, Hidan had tossed his guitar aside and was jumping a hole in the sky from the kick of pure adrenaline the song had gave him.

"Hell yeah! Real fucking metal, bitches!"

Kisame smirked. "Chill out, dude. You may knock over some gear. And then what are we going to do? We still need a re-roll on 'Kirisute Gomen' and 'Take This Life'. Itachi fucked up on the latter, and I have to admit I did on the first one. So get your guitar, and play."

"Dude, we've got a month and a half before we want this record in stores," Itachi said. "We can re-roll those two songs tomorrow. Hidan still needs to get the vocals for 'In Your Face' right, so how about we let the dude do his job and we go grab a drink?"

"...You know, for an idiot, that idea isn't half bad."

"Says the idiot who broke two pairs of sticks because he couldn't get 'Ascendancy' right," Itachi snickered. Kisame shot him a glare.

Deidara rubbed his temples. "Seriously, _shut up._ I'm developing a major headache here. Hidan, do your thing. The rest of you, let's get the fuck out of this place. I need some fresh air. The atmosphere here reeks of posers."

"Now that you mention it..." Kisame said, sniffling like a dog. "You think Blackout is here?"

"That would explain the stench..." Itachi said frowning. "Whatever." He shrugged. "While Hidan is singing, we might as wel go get some new cables for Deidara. The ones he has now look like they are going to break anytime."

"Agreed. There's a music store near. Let's go."

* * *

Kisame browsed the used equipment absent-mindedly while Deidara was interrogating the shopkeeper about some cables for his bass. Itachi was too busy examining amplifiers and guitars to pay attention to his best friends. He was now holding a crazy expensive Gibson Flying V, and soloing a bit on it. Deidara was soon done, and joined Kisame into browsing the used equipment.

Kisame spotted an old ragged drum kit, and went to play it for a bit. Deidara shook his head, while Itachi walked over and jammed a few riffs and bridges of their new album. The bass-playing blonde had almost gotten in reach to drag the two boys out of the store, when something caught his eye. He smirked. This sure was going to be fun...

Two minutes later, the three metalheads left the store. Kisame had quickly bought a new set of sticks ("I have only thre left, I need to re-stock"), Itahi had scored himself a few packs of guitar picks ("Hidan can use those old pieces of shit I used earlier. These are so much better playable") and Deidara had his cables and another mysterious-looking object.

When Kisame asked him, Deidara just smirked. "All in due time, my friend. Have patience, and knowledge will bestow itself upon thee."

Kisame sweatdropped. "Dude, drop the fancy talk! Only I can do that without failing!"

Itachi just punched both his bickering friends for good measure and shot them an annoyed glare. "Kisame, just beause you can talk fancy does _not _mean you are an intelligent being. Now shut up."

"...Kisame: 0, Itachi: 2. Ouch."

Itachi smirked. "Damn straight. Now let's go, or Hidan will be too addicted to Killzone to get his ass into gear again."

"...Good point. It took him two days to get out of it last time."

The boys continued to the studio in silence, and indeed found Hidan glued to the PS2. Kisame literally dragged the vocalist back to the studio, under loud protest of said vocalist.

They listened to Hidan's finished work on 'In Your Face', before Deidara went to connect his bass and check all the equipment once more. When he was done, Itachi tossed his old picks to Hidan and walked to the recording room. Kisame seated himself behind his kit, and warmed up with a few fast drum rolls. Deidara, smirking contemplative, picked up his bass and finetuned it. Kisame counted down, and the band started playing 'Ascendancy', the third track on the album.

About a minute into the song, Hidan's mic seemed to fuck up. It didn't die out, it just distorted Hidan's voice and making him sound like he had inhaled helium. Hidan got angry, Deidara just laughed triumphantly and Itachi and Kisame cracked up and stopped playing.

Hidan kicked over his mic stand. "What the hell is wrong with this thing?"

"Nothing, dude," Deidara said snickering. "I just hooked it up to a voice changer."

"A voice changer?"

"Yup. Saw it with the used equipment in the music store. It was only five bucks, so... Itachi, are you alright?" Deidara asked looking at the Uchiha warily.

"Perfectly fine, dude. Perfectly fine. I just got hit with another spark of brilliancy."

"Brilliancy, or insanity?" Kisame asked smirking. Itachi returned the smirk and Kisame chuckled. "Right, right, what's the difference. So what brilliant, idiotic plan that is probably going to get us in a shitload of trouble did you think up this time?"

"Just wait. It's gonna be even more epic than anything we ever did before. Alright, here's what we're going to do..."

**

* * *

**This was insane.

No, this was _beyond _insane.

The guys had all known Itachi was crazy the day they had met him, but this had to be the craziest thing the dude _ever _thought up.

Sure, pranking Konan was fun. Fucking with Blackout's record, even better.

But locking themselves in the studio to fuck up _every little piece _of equipment in there? It was pure insanity. Yet here they were, telling the manager they'll leave in five, when their new song was done. Said manager, some old white-haired pervert, took their word for it, left a key for them on the bar and went home.

As soon as he had closed the door, the four best friends dropped their instruments and rushed over to the studio Blackout used. As soon as they had picked the lock (read: when Hidan had kicked the door in, only to find out it was left unlocked), they went to their respective tasks. Kisame went to 'adjust' Kidoumaru's drum kit, replacing the skins with plastic wrappings that breaks on one hit. Hidan and Itachi went to mess with Sakon and Ukon's amps, leaving them in a state that would give the twins at least an hour and a half to fix it.

Deidara, being the tech nerd he is, 'fixed' Jirobou's bass amp and somehow managed to make it sound like a flamenco guitar. He also hooked up Konan's mic with the voice changer he bought earlier that day, and hacked into the system with the master tapes of Blackout's album so far. After a bit of editing, the Symphonic band's record sounded like a squirrel on speed. Itachi smirked.

"Dudes, our job is done. I think this can be considered one of our better works."

"Hell yeah," Hidan said before turning to Deidara. "And you. You fucking filthy brilliant tech geek. Seriously. How in _fuck_'s name did you manage to make that thing sound like a flamenco guitar?"

Deidara shrugged smirking. "Dunno. I was messing around with it, yanked out a few cables, and suddenly I got this sound. I thought it was fitting for those posers to have a lame-ass bass sound, so I left it that way. Glad you like it."

"Glad we're all in this together. I really can't _wait _to see Blackout's faces."

"Yeah, yeah, now let's go, or we might not be here tomorrow _at all,_" Kisame said turthfully.

And without any further ado, the four friends left the studio and locked the door. Tomorrow was going to be one of the best ever. That was a given.

* * *

**A/N SORRY that this has taken so long to update! I just had no idea how I wanted to write it down (AGAIN), and when I DID have ideas, they were either lame, or school and life in general gave me no time to write it down. But alas, here it is. **

**Next will be the release party of Akatsuki's first album, and, you guessed it, Blackout's payback. **

**Peace.**


	14. Chapter 14: The Unnamed Feeling

**A/N Songs:  
****All Hope is Gone - Slipknot  
****Kirisute Gomen - Trivium  
****(We Are) The Road Crew - Motörhead  
****Master of Puppets - Metallica**

**I **_**wish**_** I owned any of this.**

* * *

Uchiha mansion, saturday evening. Somewhere in the past month, Hana and Fugaku had met up and decided to throw a release party for the boys of Akatsuki, to celebrate the release of their first album. All their old friends from school had been invited, Yamato the guitar maker had shown up, some Uchiha relatives that didn't hate Itachi for what happened at his mother's funeral, even the old perverted studio manager was there.

Kisame and Hidan were busy setting up the drummer's kit, of course under loud bickering. Eventually, when Hidan started to use the hi-hats as frisbees, Kisame kicked him away and continued on his own. Hidan just snickered and connected and fine-tuned his guitar. Itachi was enjoying a cold beer and watched Deidara set up Hidan's gear in no time. Sasuke and his friends, the annoying Uzumaki kid, the fat Akimichi brat, and a silent kid Itachi didn't know, were taking turns on Itachi's acoustic guitar and raping the instrument.

Soon, Akatsuki finished setting up their stage (they _really _needed some roadies, Itachi thought) and drew all attention to them. Hidan counted down, and hammered down a series of chords on his guitar as Itachi opened with a crazy solo. Deidara took his shot at glory when Itachi finished up, soloing his bass Burton-style. Last but not least, Kisame banged out his solo while Hidan and Itachi took the riffing speed up a few notches.

Under loud chanting, Akatsuki formally blasted off with the first track on their newly released album: 'All Hope is Gone'.

_The state of the nation-violation!  
A broken promise is as good as a lie  
The hell is humongous, the devil's among us  
And we will burn because we won't unite!__**All hope is gone!**__**We have made the present obsolete!**__  
What do you want, what do you need?  
We'll find a way  
__**When all hope is gone!**__**When all hope is gone!**__  
_

What we are conceding for freedom?  
Why does anybody think we need 'em?  
I would rather fight, than let another die  
We're the problem, but we're also the solution

If you want you cannot take it from me  
If you think you can, you still don't know me  
Let me tell you man, I said it, I meant it  
And I will always have the right to defend it!

50 seconds, 100 murders  
The Bill of Rights is a bill of sale  
What will you do when the war is over?  
What will you do when you system fails?

We've seen the fall of the elite  
Bury your life, take your disease  
We'll end the world

Itachi hammered down ha last power chord before engaging a finger-breaking solo. His fingers danced over the small frets at a blinding speed, and his pick was flashing over the strings so fast that his hand looked like a big blur in the dimmed lights. Soon, his solo ended, and he fell back in the original, but not any slower, riffing.

_  
We have made the present obsolete!  
What do you want, what do you need?  
We'll find a way  
When all hope is gone!__**We have made the present obsolete!**__  
What do you want, what do you need?  
We'll find a way  
__**When all hope is gone!**__**When all hope is gone!**_**We'll find a way**_**  
**__When all hope is gone!_**We'll end the world**_  
__**When all hope is gone!**__**When all hope is gone!**_

We've seen the fall of the elite  
Bury your life, take your disease  
We'll end the world  
When all hope is gone!

The wretched are the wounded  
The hungry starve to death  
In a place where no-one goes  
The air itself is a final breath!

So discontinue  
The antiseptic care charade  
As a cry of justice comes  
A malignant fire fades!

I am the reason your future suffers!  
I am the hatred you won't embrace!  
I am the worm of a pure gestation!  
I am the remedy, spit in my face!

All your laws and rules are outdated  
All your subjects are killing the kings  
I can rattle off a million other reasons why  
But does it matter when the only thing we love will die?

We've seen the fall of the elite  
Bury your life, take your disease  
We'll end the world

We've made the presence obsolete!  
What do you want, what do you need?  
We'll find a way

We've seen the fall of the elite!  
Bury your life, take your disease  
We'll end the world

_**When all hope is gone!**_

_**When all hope is gone!!**__  
_

Completely blown away by the sheer power of the old amplifiers and the sound the boys produced with it, the audience started cheering and rooting for the boys. Sasuke, grown used to the rough music Itachi blasted day in day out, had headbanged along the entire time like a true metalhead, and Naruto with him. Hidan added some fuel to the fire, jumped up and down a bit and counted down to fire the next song at the crowd: 'Kirisute Gomen'.

_He who walks the fire breathes!_

He who walks the fire breathes!  
Unlike the rest  
Living by the bloody creed  
Kirisute Gomen!

Air of battle tasting stale  
Reeks of deceit!  
Send the bitter straight to hell  
Kirisute Gomen!

In their wretched guts all they want is to feed!  
Unending, covetous hunger known as greed!  
As the last legion makes it's way to the skies!

I can see in their eyes  
They've already died!  
Inside, but as for the outside  
I'll take their fucking heads!

Quake has bred with the storm!  
Conceiving war  
Wicked stampeding hordes  
Kirisute gomen!

In their wretched guts all they want is to feed!  
Unending, covetous hunger known as greed!  
As the last legion makes its way to the skies!

I can see in their eyes  
They've already died!  
Inside, but as for the outside  
I'll take their fucking heads!

I can see in their eyes  
They've already died!  
Inside, but as for the outside  
I'll take their fucking heads!

I will never be what they want me to  
I live by my own path in life  
No turning back now, I won't be held down  
Forced into a shallow grave

_Built upon their empty ways  
There's no turning back!_Itachi felt the familiar tingle in his fingers as they started to move faster and faster over the strings and frets,almost if they were living a life of their own. It wasn't anything like that fateful night of their first gig, an entirely different feeling, but it felt just as good. At the end of the solo, Itachi pulled off a guitar screech and played a random riff before throwing his pick into the crowd. Hidan smirked and stepped back to his mic.

There's hell to pay, such disarray!  
A bloodied mess, flesh masquerade!  
With all the blood making a flood!  
You made your path by crossing us!

_He who spits the fire seethes!  
All he detests  
Decapitating, bloody creed!  
Kirisute Gomen!_

In their wretched guts all they want is to feed!  
Unending, covetous hunger known as greed!  
As the last legion makes its way to the skies!

I can see in their eyes  
They've already died!  
Inside, but as for the outside  
I'll take their fucking heads!

I can see in their eyes  
They've already died!  
Inside, but as for the outside  
I'll take their fucking heads!

I will never be what they want me to  
I live by my own path in life  
No turning back now, I won't be held down  
Forced into a shallow grave

_Built upon their empty ways  
There's no turning back!_

I will never be what they want me to  
I live by my own path in life  
No turning back now, I won't be held down  
Forced into a shallow grave

_Built upon their empty ways  
There's no turning back!_

Again, the boys got a big wave of applause for their performance. Hidan took a quick break to grab some drinks for his friends and himself, and returned just in time to sing his part in Akatsuki's cover of Motörhead's legendary '(We Are) The Road Crew'.

Song after song passed, and finally the boys hammered down the last chord of Metallica's 8-minute long classic 'Master of Puppets'. They took the applause with the raised horns, Kisame and Deidara restrained Hidan from doing his signature stage-dive and left the 'stage'.

The young metalheads looked at each other smirking, apparently reading each other's minds, and simultaneously said "party time" right before they were practically glomped by Sasuke and his friends.

* * *

Hours later, when the party was over and most people went home, Ithachi looked around the room slightly grinning for some reason. He shouldn't have accepted that drinking contest with Kisame. The dude was able to hold his alcohol a bit better. Itachi didn't know how much he had, or where his father had disappeared to.

He didn't really remember anything any more.

Like, who was that cute blue-haired girl, and why was Hana glaring furiously at her? She looked kind of familiar... maybe she was from school, and showed up later because she had other things to do.

Then he spotted the huge gorilla at her side, and recognized her as Konan. He smirked when she faced him.

"Look at you, Uchiha. Look at your drunk ass."

"Why hello there, Konan. Came to congratulate us?" Itachi replied grinning.

If looks could kill, Itachi would be six feet under now. "When hell freezes over, asshole. I came to get an explaination."

"Do I need to explain to Sakon how to grunt _again_? Jeesh, if last time didn't help..." Itachi hiccuped, "if last time didn't help, ask Hidan. He's way better than me."

"An explaination on how our master tapes got fucked over beyond repair," she seethed. His smirk broadened.

"We did a good job on making you sound like a squirrel, didn't we?"

She smacked him across the face. Itachi, being a bit (okay, a _lot_) drunk, lost his balance and fell on the ground. Itachi stood up, snickering.

"Feisty, aren't we?" he said. She got ready to slap him again, but this time he caught her wrist. "Fighting is a bad idea, my dearest Konan. You see, I've got my friends backing me, and you just got those posers who, let's face it, are just with you because you give them head."

She let out a dry, humorless laugh. "Friends? Who, Kisame? The Neanderthal whose only skill seems to be hitting stuff? Deidara, the lazy geek? Or Hidan, the dumbass with no future, so he started singing?" she laughed again. "Or _Hana_, the only real poser in this room?"

Itachi suddenly turned surprisingly serious, considering he wasn't exactly sober. "...What?"

"Oh, come on! You call us posers, but _she_'s the one who went Punk! You call us secondhand metalheads, while she isn't a metalhead at all!"

Itachi pushed her off. She barely kept her balance, staggering afew steps back. She turned back to him, a furious snarl on her face. She remained silent for a second, her lips curving into a twisted smirk. "My, my, Uchiha. Did you attack your mother as well? Is that why she died?"

All hell was breaking loose. Itachi shot up, adrenaline and uncontrolled rage nullifying the effects of the alcohol. He was going to _kill _that _bitch_. _Rip _her to _shreds_.

Before he could reach the blue-haired teen, though, a brown blur shut past his vision and slammed Konan into a wall. Hana beat him to harming Konan, and was punching her into the ground now.

"YOU BITCH! How _dare _you! _How fucking dare you_!!" Hana shrugged off Itachi's hand on her shoulders. "She's mine!"

Blinded by hate, rage and to some extent, alcohol, Itachi slapped Hana right across the face. "Don't fucking interfere in _my _fights, bitch! I'm perfectly fucking capable of taking care of myself!"

Utter terror was radiating from Hana. Her best friend had just slapped her. _Her best friend _just _slapped_ her. Everyone present was frozen in shock and fear. hana stood up, stared at Itachi's surprised face for a second and then ran off. Sasuke quickly hid behind Kisame's drum kit, fearing Itachi might take his anger out on someone else.

Itachi, completely forgetting about Konan, stared at his hands with wide eyes before storming off too.

* * *

He dropped his tired and sobered body on the concrete in front of the guitar center, leaning against the wall. He had seached the entire neighbourhood for her, but to no avail. He screamed out a curse.

As if on cue, the nightly sky started to pour as if it was crying for Itachi's misery. Itachi just took a deep breath and rammed his fist into the window of the guitar center. The glass cut open the skin on his knuckles and hand, as the alarm sounded faintly in the distance. Itachi cursed again, took out a few hundred dollar bills from his wallet (sometimes being spoiled can have its good sides) and left them inside, with an apology note.

He strolled through the falling rain, past the hill where he and Hana last met before this

cursed night. Past the school courtyard, where Hana officially joined his band for a single

gig. Past the club where Akatsuki played their first gig. Past Kisame's house, where he had

first jammed with his best friends. Past his old house, where he got his first guitar for his tenth birthday. The house where it all started. Itachi saw something blink in the light of the street lights, and picked it up.

It was his old guitar pick, the one he lost when the boys and him had frantically left the house in front of him, in search for a replacement for Deidara.

"Hana..."

"You really fucked up this time, dude."

Itachi looked up and saw Kisame's serious face. He loked down. "I know..."

Kisame sat down on the swings in the front yard of the house. Itachi sat down next to him, just like in the old days. Silence lingered between the two best friends, until Kisame finally spoke up. "You know, I'm not some sort of fucking shrink. I'm not going to act like one either. But don't even try to deny that you really fucked up this time."

Itachi's fist clenched around the old pick. "I...I don't know what came over me, Kisame...the only thing I really thought about was ripping Konan to shreds. I was really close to killing her..._so close_..."

Kisame looked away. "She deserved nothing less. Tch, that bitch, cracking jokes about your mother like that."

"And Hana."

Kisame toop a deep, understanding breath. "...You really love her, don't you."

Itachi sighed and looked at the pick in his hand.

"I...guess."

* * *

**A/N Dun dun duuunn. Now what? I really have a freaky feeling that I'm ending it here... But I'm not going to be that much of an asshole. **


	15. Chapter 15: Marching Off to War

**A/N Songs:  
****Hordes of Chaos (A Necrologue For the Elite) - Kreator  
****Beautiful Mourning - Machine Head  
****Hellrider - Judas Priest  
****Orion -**** Metallica  
****Paranoid - Black Sabbath**

**I freaking **_**wish**_** I owned.**

* * *

Seventeen-year old Itachi overlooked the festival grounds. All he saw was people. Loads of people who had come here this weekend to get drunk, thrash all around, and maybe stay conscious long enough to hear the music play. Way in the background were a few stages, with the lesser-known bands. The biggest masses of people crowded at the main stage, where Heavy Metal legends Motörhead were now playing 'Overkill'.

Itachi had a strange feeling tying his stomach in knots ever since he arrived at the festival grounds. No, even before that. Ever since Akatsuki was asked to headline Annihilation Fest.

Kisame walked up to him. "Dude, shouldn't you be getting ready or something?" When Itachi didn't respond, Kisame sat down next to him. "What's up?"

Itachi shrugged. "I was just thinking. Thinking what could have been if that drunken dickface left his home a minute later. Wondering where we would be, both individually and with the band."

"Somewhere far away from where we are now."

Itachi looked at his friend. "You think this all was for a greater good?"

"Basically."

"I doubt fate would kill my mom just so I could achieve my dreams."

Kisame smirked and rolled his eyes. "Dumbass. It's not just you. Because of the band, your dad's business is running better than ever. And Sasuke looks like he's ready to start his own band any day now. I think he might walk the same road to fame as we did, if he tries."

"Now that you mention it..."

Kisame stood up. "See? Now let's get the hell outta here. We're up in ten minutes, and you still need to tune your guitar."

Itachi shot the drummer a weird look. "No offense, but what do you know of how my guitar's supposed to sound?"

"Not much, but given Hidan was thrashing all over the place and knocked over the instrument racks, I think you might have to tune it for a bit, just to make sure."

Itachi sighed. "Does that dumbass ever grow up?"

"Unlikely," Kisame replied smirking. "Now let's go."

* * *

Akatsuki casually walked onstage, as if the hundreds of thousands of people didn't mean the slightest to them. The boys discussed a bit, and silence dawned over the audience. This was exactly what Hidan wanted. He smirked, turned around and threw up the horns. The crownd went rabid, and all Hidan needed to say was 'go' for Itachi to play the first notes of 'Hordes of Chaos (A Necrologue For the Elite)'.

_Violent chaos haunting me  
Mirror of countless human tragedies  
Times of horror, constant lies  
Totalitarians autocracy's demise  
Fake peace, a necrologue for the elite  
Brutality among the weak  
While children die for armageddon, victory's breed_

_This necrologue for the elite  
Like raging beasts among the sheep  
While flags are waving_

_Everywhere, they scream_

Hordes of chaos!  
Hordes of chaos!  
Everyone against everyone

_Chaos!  
Hordes of chaos!  
Hordes of chaos!  
Everyone against everyone_

_Chaos!_

Brutal riots left and right  
Out to destroy, willing to die  
Honour killing in blood is shed  
A cruel reality in empires built in sand  
Dark war, more gruesome then ever before  
Supports this decadence galore  
A tyrants feast on shoulders  
Of the poorest of the poor

_This necrologue for the elite  
The rise of the heartless bourgoise  
While flags are waving  
Everywhere they scream_

Hordes of chaos!  
Hordes of chaos!  
Everyone against everyone

_Chaos!  
Hordes of chaos!  
Hordes of chaos!  
Everyone against everyone_

_Chaos!_

_Ultra Riot!_

_Ultimate cries, ultimate hate  
__Ultimate war!  
__Ultimate fear, ultimate pain  
__Ultimate terror!_

_Ultimate death, ultimate sin  
__Ultimate storm!  
__The ultimate control of the masses  
__Of everyone!_

All eyes focused on Itachi, as the young guitarist took the spotlight and shredded his solo. Deidara's solo, actually, seeing as it was inspired on a bass solo the blone was playing one day, but Itachi converted it to a guitar solo and sped it up a bit. Well okay, a lot. Whatever. The solos were his time to shine, and shine he did.

Soon, the solo ended, Itachi returned to his place, and Hidan walked back to the mic from standing back to back with Deidara. He grabbed the mic and used his screaming talents to scream a loud "Now SCREAM!!" and maintain it for a good ten seconds, the crowd with him.

_Everyone against everyone  
__**Chaos!  
**__Everyone against everyone  
__**Chaos!  
**__Everyone against everyone  
__**Chaos!**__  
Everyone against everyone_

_  
__**Everyone against everyone!  
**__**Everyone against everyone!  
**__**Everyone against everyone!  
**__**Everyone against everyone!**_

_Everyone against everyone  
__Against everyone  
__Against everyone  
__Against everyone  
__Against everyone  
__Against everyone  
__Hordes of chaos!!_

As the young men hammered down the last chord of the song, they all knew for certain that this was what they lived for. This was what they were _born_ for. Itachi overlooked the crowd smirking, when suddenly his heart took a leap when he saw an all too familiar, brown-haired punk girl. He blinked and looked again, but she was gone. He stared a second at the spot she had been, before shrugging it off. He blamed it on his imagination when Hidan and Kisame started the next song called 'Beautiful Mourning'.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the crowd, a brown-haired bassist girl turned around, a sad smile on her face. Itachi was doing well, and that's the most important thing, she thought. She resisted the tears that stung in her eyes, remembering how that same Itachi Uchiha crashed all the hopes she had of them actually getting together with too much alcohol.

She pushed her way through thousands of metalheads, two mosh pits (which she couldn't resist joining in for a bit) and more metalheads, before finding her mother and brother at one of the side stages. A band called The Duke was playing a Judas Priest song called 'Hellrider' there, and she smirked. She remembered the day where she was briefly a member of Akatsuki, and quit the day after due to the fact their music was too heavy. She imagined being on the main stage with Itachi and his friends if she hadn't. Things would have been so different...

"What are you thinking of, sis?"

She warped back to reality. "Hm?"

"You were staring and grinning like a fool. What were you thinking of?"

"It's..." she sighed. "It's nothing, Kiba. Nevermind."

"Okay. Hey, sis, will you teach me how to play the 'Orion' solo one day?"

Hana looked at her little brother surprised. "When and where did you hear that song?"

"Just now, before 'Hellrider'," Kiba pointed to the stage with his index finger and pinky (AKA the horns). "Those guys played 'Orion' and that shit was insane. You're the best on bass, so I thought I'd ask you."

"..." Hana was speechless as the memories flooded back into her mind. Such a long time since she last played that song... The night with Akatsuki was the first and last time she played it, actually. She shook her head and turned to Kiba. "Look, it's been some time since I last played it, but I'll see how far I can get, okay?"

"Yay!" Kiba glomped his big sister and together, the siblings headbanged to The Duke's cover of Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid'.

* * *

"Itachi! Hurry up dude, we're gonna meet Metallica!" Hidan yelled excited as he swung his arm around Metallica vocalist James Hetfield's shoulders. Deidara was already drowning a few ales with Lemmy, the founder, vocalist and bassist of Motörhead, and apparently having a blast doing so. Kisame was intensively searching for his idols, Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. Itachi however didn't seem to care so much that all his childhood heroes such as Kirk Hammett, Dave Murray, Kerry King, Eddie Clarke, KK Downing and even Eddie Van Halen were around. There was only one face haunting his mind: Hana's.

He kept staring blankly at some spot for a while, when Kisame sat down next to him. "Dude, what's up? Shouldn't you be all over the place fanboying Eddie and Hammett and Murray and God knows who?"

Itachi shrugged. "I thought I saw Hana today."

"...What?"

"Yeah. Just after we finished 'Chaos'. She was right there. But when I blinked, she was gone."

Kisame sighed. "Just your imagination, dude. Now let's go, I still need to get my shirt signed by Lars and Dave."

Itachi took a last glance at the humongous crowd, now headbanging to Megadeth, before getting up and finding his idols.

* * *

Years later, Itachi couldn't remember how life used to be without the fame, fortune, fans, money and seeing his face on the cover of every magazine. But everything in life grows normal. Even life for a rock star.

In real Uchiha tradition, Sasuke grew successful as well. Strike Point Zero, the band he had started with the Uzumaki kid and Neji, a nephew of the famous lawyer Hiashi Hyuuga, was following in Akatsuki's footsteps. In Hidan's words: "Them little fucks are stealing a lot of fangirls away. They're awesome." They sold out every gig they played, their albums were dominating the charts, and awards were coming in like fanmail.

Strike Point Zero had a bright future ahead of them, Itachi thought while watching his little brother onstage. And maybe, just maybe, they might even pass him and his friends in time. He got up, grabbed a beer from some random dude, and pushed his way through security to get backstage. He waited for his brother, absent-mindedly drinking his beer, until finally the boys from Strike Point Zero finished their show. Itachi smirked.

"What up, guys."

"Hey, bro," Sasuke replied. "What are you doin' here?"

"Just stopping by before leaving for Akatsuki's European tour. Oh, and I brought you a present." He took out a guitar case. Sasuke jumped on it with the enthousiasm of his little five-year old self, and opened the case to reveal the first, unique limited ESP Eclipse Sasuke Uchiha electric guitar. The surprised look on Sasuke's face was priceless.

"It comes from Yamato's. Treat it well." Itachi stood up. "Well, about time to go. I'll see you in a year or something. Peace."

* * *

**And so ends Metal Militia. But the story is far from over. I'm not saying I'm gonna write more stories in this universe (I'm not counting the HMR rewrite I'm working on), but my love for music is too big to ignore it. There's just no way I can live without it. Like, really. I wake up to music, fall asleep to music, eat music, breathe music. **

**SO. **

**There will be more metal-related fics coming from me, but the problem is school. I think it's trying to eliminate the creative part of my brain. Because I'm feeling exactly the same as when I finished HMR. I have like zero inspiration. None. **

**Anyways, I'm gonna stop boring the living fuck out of you guys with my insignificant rambling. Keep the metal alive, and ROCK ON! **

**~LazyNinja**


	16. Author's Note

**Important note**

I've made a fresh start after two years of absence. I am sick of my old name and my old inbox flooding with emails I never read, so I started from scratch with a new name. For anyone looking for new work, go to my new account at www(dot) fanfiction (dot) net/u/3060201/VictimofYourOwnCreation.

**LazyNinja**


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